Diagnosis of Cancers, Complications, Available Treatments, Side Effects and Recommendation

Approach to Care of Cancer
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Approach to Care of Cancer
Diagnosis and staging of cancers
When diagnosing cancer, the doctor looks at a specimen of the affected tissue using a microscope (Bannasch, 2012). When a screen test reveals a possible presence of cancer, a biopsy follows. A biopsy is a surgical procedure to remove a tiny piece of body tissue for a microscopic check. The doctor determines if the tumor is present is cancerous (malignant) or non-cancerous (benign). Endoscopy, surgical biopsy, and needle biopsy are three techniques for removing tissue for biopsy. Endoscopy involves utilizing a tinny-lighted tube to look at the cells or tissue and removing them for analysis, if necessary. Needle biopsy entails a needle insertion into the tumor area and taking a small tissue. A surgical biopsy can either be an excisional or incisional biopsy- in an excisional biopsy, the physician removes the entire tumor usually with nearby healthy tissue and incisional biopsy the doctor removes a small section of the area that is affected (Bannasch, 2012). The doctor then determines the type of cancer and its aggressiveness whether well-differentiated or undifferentiated tumor cells.
After diagnosing cancer, the physician has to identify the stage, which is the extent of the condition. Staging of cancer informs the physician how far the disease has extended into the body. The outcome of staging forms the basis for treatment decision. According to Bannasch (2012), the first stage is known cancer in situ where the cancer is in the initial stage where the disease has not affected nearby tissue. The second stage is local cancer where it is only in the body part where it began to develop. The third stage is regional cancer where it has gone to close cells or lymph nodes. The fourth stage is distant cancer where the condition has extended to other organs as well as body systems.
Complications of cancer and available treatments
Vomiting and nausea are one of the cancer complications. A prevalence of 20percent to 30 percent of patients with stage four cancer have nausea while 20percent of all cancer patients suffer from vomiting (MacLeod, 2009). Vomiting and nausea are common because of head radiotherapy, higher intracranial pressure, intestinal obstruction, bronchial secretions, vestibular nerve stimulation and others. Different medication and treatments are used to prevent or minimize nausea. According to MacLeod (2009), some of the drugs presented used in vomiting and nausea include risperidone and olanzapine.
Another complication of cancer is fatigue where the patient has reduced the ability to do mental tasks. Fatigue is characterized by muscular weakness, poor memory, and concentration, daytime sleepiness, little or no interest in activities. MacLeod (2009) asserts that fatigue in cancer patients is due to release of intracellular yields and metabolites after cell lysis and lump necrosis after therapy. Moreover, fluctuations in skeletal muscle protein stocks because of tumor necrosis element. Other causes of fatigue in cancer include dehydration, infection due to change of immune status, and anemia. Fatigue management entails energy conservation, simple exercises, ...