Although the number of people diagnosed with cancer is increasing, the number of people dying from this disease is decreasing. The paradox is given by the new screening methods that can detect different types of cancer in the initial stages, by the new and innovative treatments, as well as by the multidisciplinary teams that participate in the patient's treatment plan. Dr.Tudor Mocan, gastroenterologist, provided a series of clarifications and information related to these type of diagnosis.
An oncological diagnosis today no longer has the same meaning as it did 20 years ago. The strides made by medical science in the last two decades have greatly changed the way a cancer diagnosis is approached. Nowadays, cancer is no longer characterised only by the place where it occurs in the body, but also by its biological features scientifically called biomarkers. The detection of tumor’s biomarkers is an important element that leads to an accurate diagnosis, and an accurate diagnosis leads to a targeted and effective treatment and implicitly the patient has better chances of survival. That is why in the last decade, cancer mortality has decreased, although paradoxically the number of people diagnosed with cancer is increasing from year to year.
In order to make an accurate diagnosis, oncologists ask the patient to do a series of absolutely essential investigations to determine what type of cancer the patient is suffering from and to decide what treatment should be followed.
Foremost among these is the biopsy. It is indispensable in the recommendations of doctors to establish a definite cancer diagnosis. The solution is to take a piece of tissue from the organ to examine under a microscope and see if the cell death is due to cause x or cause y.
"In medicine, nothing is 100% certain, no analysis is 100% flawless. No matter how high-performance imaging is, it has its limits", explains doctor Tudor Mocan. He says that although sometimes very suggestive, radiological images and clinical aspects are not enough to formulate the correct and certain diagnosis of cancer.
Once the definite diagnosis of type x, y, z cancer is established, the recommended treatment is often not the prerogative of a single doctor, but of a multidisciplinary team. Modern cancer management involves a multidisciplinary team to decide which is the best treatment option for the patient. Because an oncological diagnosis is extremely complex, doctors with multiple skills and specializations come together to treat the patient. The team needs an oncologist, but also a psychologist or psychiatrist, a pulmonologist (if it's lung cancer) a gastroenterologist (if it's cancer in the digestive area) etc.
Oncological treatment has evolved significantly in the last two decades. Surgery used to be the main treatment for most cancers, but the current trend is towards surgical interventions that are as limited as possible, but also as effective as possible. If until recently, breast cancer patients were treated by radical mastectomy, today, in many cases, the breast is saved and only the tumor and a part of the tissue around the tumor are removed. Surgery is followed by radiotherapy, chemotherapy or hormone therapy. Some cancers respond better to radiation therapy, some to chemotherapy, some to immunotherapy, or some respond better when the therapies are combined. In short, anticancer treatments are currently a cross between several therapies - surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, gene therapy, immunotherapy and targeted therapies.
Thanks to the innovative therapies available today that distinguish between abnormal and healthy tissue, the survival rate for a cancer diagnosis is increasing. “There is a process which slowly transform this disease from a fatal diagnosis into a chronic disease, as has happened in the past with many other diseases!", encourages medical doctor Tudor Mocan.
If you want to know more about health problems in the oncology sphere, you can get a quick answer through an online consultation, without the need to go to a doctor's office.
• Only 5-10% of cancers have a genetic component.
• Nowadays, more and more types of cancer can be treated and kept at bay due to early stages diagnosis or new treatment methods.
• Patients with advanced cancers have arrived, thanks to innovative treatments in recent decades. at a survival rate that seemed impossible only a few years ago.
