Option
Targeted, individual, personalized - tailor-made therapy concepts are increasingly giving cancer patients the opportunity to continue to live with their disease in good quality for a long time. Thanks to precise early detection and diagnosis as well as innovative treatment approaches, tumors are increasingly changing from fatal to chronic diseases. This also applies to certain cancers in the lungs.
Lung cancer is loud World Health Organization (WHO) the most common tumor disease worldwide. "In Austria alone, almost 4.000 people die from it every year," emphasizes one of the leading Austrian lung cancer experts, OA Dr. Maximilian Hochmair, Head of the Oncological Day Outpatient Clinic, Department of Internal Medicine and Pneumology in the Floridsdorf Clinic in Vienna. "The introduction of modern drugs has made it possible to significantly improve treatment results and tolerability," says the expert. In addition to conventional methods such as surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy, targeted therapies and immunotherapy are now also available.
Targeted therapy - at home and with almost no side effects
Drugs used in targeted therapies target certain factors that promote tumor growth. So you try to attack the cancer cells directly, for example by fighting the mechanisms that are responsible for cell growth. Advantage: This therapy usually involves swallowing tablets (in many cases only once a day) that the patient can take at home. Compared to chemotherapy, they are distinguished by their significantly better effectiveness and tolerance. In addition, a simple blood sample can be used to detect circulating tumor DNA in those affected. This makes it possible to recognize a flare-up of the disease at an early stage.
Another option: immunotherapy
Immunotherapy is another innovative option for treating lung cancer. It aims to activate the person's own immune system in such a way that it recognizes the tumor as "sick / foreign" and can therefore fight it. Cancer cells can "camouflage" themselves from the immune system, so that the body's own defense cells do not recognize the tumors and thus do not attack them. Tumors achieve this, for example, by inhibiting the activity of immune cells or manipulating so-called immune checkpoints.
Lung cancer is not all lung cancer
The improvement in treatment results is based primarily on research results that determine lung cancer individually. Each tumor has specific characteristics: tissue type, stage of spread and molecular biological properties are taken into account when deciding on treatment. Tailored therapy concepts make it increasingly possible to offer patients an individually optimized treatment with the best possible effectiveness and tolerance. Maximilian Hochmair: "Even with advanced lung cancer, it is increasingly possible to significantly extend life with a good quality of life."
Long life possible after diagnosis
The medical history of patient Robert Schüller illustrates what convincing successes are already possible. He was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2008 at the age of 50. "Back then, the doctors gave me a maximum of two years' chance of survival," says Robert Schüller. After many years of stressful chemotherapy, he was switched to a new, targeted cancer therapy for swallowing. With this new treatment, his life took on a completely new quality. Robert Schüller: “I take a tablet every night before going to bed. There are no unpleasant side effects. I feel very good, for example I can work, walk the dog or ride a bike. My blood and liver values have normalized. The results of the check-ups are extremely reassuring. I have now lived with the disease for eleven years. "
"Even with advanced lung cancer, it is increasingly possible to significantly extend life with a good quality of life."
Lung cancer expert OA Dr. Maximilian Hochmair, Head of the oncological outpatient clinic, department for internal medicine and pulmonology in the Floridsdorf Clinic in Vienna.
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