Every cancer is seen in different stages and the treatment has its own challenges. The cancer treatment is normally of three types.
• OncoSurgery: In this, the surgeon removes the cancerous tissues.
• Medical Oncology: It can be given before surgery to reduce the disease extent and make surgery feasible or after surgery to reduce the chances of cancer recurrence. It plays an important role when cancer is spread to different organs to control the disease extent.
• Radiation Oncology: This treatment can be given with the intent to cure the patient of cancer. It can be considered after surgery to prevent the local recurrence of the disease by killing microscopic disease cells left behind. It can also be given before the surgery to reduce the disease extent making surgery more feasible.
The question of importance is the therapy for end-stage cancer patients. These patients have diseases that are incurable and may have spread to different areas of the body causing multiple problems. Symptoms of end-stage cancer can vary widely depending on the type and location of the cancer but often include severe pain, fatigue, loss of appetite, difficulty breathing and affect the quality of life. These are the patients that merit palliative care, which is an interdisciplinary caregiving approach aimed at optimizing the quality of life and mitigating suffering among people with serious, complex and often terminal illnesses.
As end-stage cancer becomes more prevalent, radiation therapy—which was formerly thought of as a curative intervention—becomes a powerful palliative strategy. By carefully targeting tumours or metastases, it relieves symptoms interfering with patients’ everyday lives and improves their quality of life.
For instance, if cancer has spread to the bones, it can make them weak and susceptible to fracture. It can also induce severe pain in the areas that deprive the patients of any movement and debilitate them. Radiation therapy is a painless short-duration treatment that helps in reducing swelling and further damage. Radiation therapy works as a marvel in these cases as it targets the tumour cells and reduces the burden at that site.
Patients with end-stage cancer might also have difficulty in breathing. This could likely be due to tumour cells in the lungs pressing on the breathing tubes. This makes the patient bed-bound and dependent on oxygen support. Palliative radiotherapy works as a boon in this case. It destroys the disease cells in the lesion, reducing its size, and thus reducing breathlessness. The patients’ comfort is increased, and they can perform ordinary tasks without breathing problems.
