Diagnosis, Staging, and Complications of Cancer and the Side Effects of Treatment

The Approach to Care of Cancer
Name
Institution
The Approach to Care of Cancer
Introduction
Cancer is one of the diseases that affect people and increase the burden of care across the globe. It has kept researchers and medical professionals on their toes trying to figure out improved ways of preventing and treating it. According to National Cancer Institute (2018), cancer is the leading cause of death in the world and the situation is expected to worsen because by 2030, as the number of new cancer cases is projected to increase to 23.6 million. As such, it is imperative for professionals in the medical field to understand the approach to care to ensure that cancer patients are well-taken care of, even as more research is being conducted in pursuit of a permanent solution. Approach to care of cancer is not only concerned with providing care to the cancer patient, but also providing support to the family of the patient. This paper addresses the approach to care from diagnosis, staging, side effects of treatment, and reduction of effects on the patient.
Diagnosis of Cancer
In most cases, cancer patients are diagnosed with cancer as an emergency after visiting the doctor with symptoms that suggest cancer. Zhou, et al. (2016) point out that emergency diagnoses yield poor results, unlike when cancer is diagnosed through screening. Once a patient has symptoms that suggest cancer, the doctor starts with assessing the personal and family medical history of the patient. For correct diagnosis, laboratory tests, imaging, and biopsy are performed (National Cancer Institute, 2015). Urine, blood and body fluids samples are collected and tested in the laboratory to determine whether the patient has low or high substances that are associated with cancer. However, doctors need to perform other tests to support laboratory tests if they were abnormal. The doctor can request for body imaging procedures such as x-rays, CT-scan, MRI or ultrasound, which helps in determining whether the patient has a tumor in the suspected area (National Cancer Institute, 2015). Finally, the doctors can perform a biopsy, which involves the removal of a sample tissue, which is then observed under a microscope to determine whether it is cancerous. These tests used in diagnosis are also used to determine the stage of the cancer.
Staging of Cancer
The extent of how far cancer has spread and the size of the tumor is termed as staging. Staging of cancer is imperative as it allows for the determination of an appropriate treatment plan and survival rate for the patient (National Cancer Institute, 2015). While some staging systems are specific to a certain type of cancer, there are other systems that are used to describe the stage for a variety of cancers. One of such staging system is the TNM system, where the T refers to the size of the primary tumor, N refers to the number of lymph nodes with cancer near the primary tumor, and M addresses whether cancer has spread to other body parts (National Cancer Institute, 2015). In this staging system, the letters are followed by numbers which, provide the doctor with more information so as to accurately determine the stage of cancer. The common stages that doctors use to describe cancer to the patient while using th...