A virtual look at non-small cell lung cancer

Non-small cell lung cancer affects close to 85 percent of Americans with lung cancer. Jennifer Caudle, DO, takes an in-depth look at cancerous tumors in the lungs and the treatment.

Transcript

00:00

[MUSIC PLAYING] A cancer diagnosis can be terrifying. So it's no wonder why the simple mention of the word

00:06

can stop us in our tracks. About 1.8 million Americans are expected

00:13

to be diagnosed with cancer this year. And lung cancer will be the second most common type.

00:20

Lungs are spongy and porous organs within the chest, responsible for every breath we take.

00:27

But inside these lungs is non-small cell lung cancer, the type that affects close to 85% of Americans

00:34

with lung cancer. The mass of tissue we see here is a tumor, which forms when abnormal cells in the body

00:41

grow and divide uncontrollably. Tumors aren't always cancerous, but this one is, because not only does it invade

00:48

nearby areas of the lung, its cells can travel to other parts of the body through the bloodstream or lymph nodes,

00:55

causing cancer to metastasize, or spread, to organs like the brain or liver. To stop this, we must fight cancer

01:02

quickly and aggressively. And fortunately, we can. Chemoradiation therapy, or CRT for short,

01:10

combines the power of chemotherapy and radiation to attack cancer and prevent it from spreading.

01:16

Whereas radiation uses X-ray like beams to specifically target the tumor, chemotherapy travels through the bloodstream to all parts

01:24

of the body, destroying actively growing cells, some of which are cancer cells. But as effective as CRT is, it can severely

01:33

harm our own cells at the price of killing cancerous ones. Newer treatment options, such as immunotherapy,

01:39

can be used alone or with CRT to fight cancer by working with our immune system, the body's

01:45

defense against infections and invaders. Immunotherapy is a drug usually given

01:51

as a pill or an injection. As it travels throughout the body, immunotherapy can detect and attack cancer cells,

01:58

tag them for destruction, and even train the immune system to seek out and kill cancer. If you or someone you know has been diagnosed with cancer,

02:08

talk with your doctor about available treatment options, because every second in this fight with cancer matters. [MUSIC PLAYING]