Lung cancer remains the most common malignant oncological disease in the world. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, the incidence of this pathology has increased tenfold, especially in industrially developed countries. The condition more often occurs in men. Treatment is complicated since the disease is usually detected at late stages and early metastasizes. Good vascularization of the bronchopulmonary system contributes to early cancer metastatic dissemination as well.
Types of lung cancer
Lung cancer can be central and peripheral. The central type grows from the large bronchi, the peripheral kind – from the small ones.
Central cancer can be endophytic and exophytic. Endophytic neoplasms grow towards the wall of the bronchus, exophytic ones – towards its lumen. In exophytic tumors, it is easier to carry out surgical treatment, and the metastases arise later. Nevertheless, pure types of tumor growth are rare. More often they are mixed, with a predominance of one or another component.
Peripheral cancer is divided into the following types:
- nodular tumor;
- pneumonia-like cancer;
- carcinoma of the pulmonary apex.
There is also a number of histological types of tumors. Non-small cell lung cancer is the most common one, it occurs in 80% of cases. Small cell lung cancer is diagnosed in 16% of patients. All other types account for 4% of clinical cases.
Symptoms of lung cancer
Clinical signs manifest early only in central cancer. The leading symptom is cough, it is present in 90% of patients. Initially, the cough is dry, and it is associated with irritation of the receptor apparatus. Sputum appears after the tumor enlargement and bronchial obstruction.
Other symptoms include:
- Hemoptysis of various intensity occurs in half of the patients at late stages of the disease.
- Dyspnea appears in every third patient due to the closing of the bronchial lumen by the tumor or compression of the bronchus by the neoplasm from the outside.
- Pain appears when the tumor grows into the pleura, thoracic wall.
- General complaints, like weight loss, fatigue, tiredness.
Lung cancer treatment in Germany
More and more patients prefer treatment abroad, as the world’s leading hospitals offer innovative treatment options, often not available in the patient’s native country. These include laparoscopic surgical interventions, chemotherapy according to new protocols, and 3D conformal radiation therapy.
According to international statistics, many people visit the best hospitals in Germany annually. Benefits of treatment in this country are:
- Minimally invasive operations (laser, video-assisted thoracic surgery) are used in the early stages of cancer. After such interventions patients recover much faster, as they do not require the opening of the thorax.
- Initial stages of the large bronchi cancer can be cured using photodynamic therapy (without any surgery at all).
- Robot-assisted surgical interventions are performed since they are more precise and safe.
- At the late stages of cancer bronchoplastic operations are used to remove large tumors along with preserving functional areas of the lung parenchyma.
- Four-dimensional irradiation with precise targeting is used for alleviating the side effects of radiation therapy.
- Image-guided radiation therapy allows a doctor to direct the radiation precisely to the tumor, without damaging healthy tissues.
Cost of treatment
Approximate prices for medical services in the best hospitals in Germany:
- Diagnostics – from 6,500 €.
- Thoracotomy with segmental lung resection – from 21,000 €.
- Radiation therapy – from 22,000 €.
- Extended pneumonectomy – from 27,000 €.
- Chemotherapy – from 7,000 €.
If you want to know the precise price and receive qualitative lung cancer treatment in Germany, you should use the services of the company Booking Health. We will entirely arrange treatment abroad and provide you with the following benefits:
- Choosing the German oncology hospital with the best success and safety rates in the treatment of lung cancer.
- Reducing treatment costs up to 50% due to the absence of overpricing for foreign patients.
- Preparing medical program without repeating previous examinations.
- Help in buying and forwarding medicines.
- Independent monitoring of medical programs at all stages.
- Financial transparency, return of unspent funds.
- Organization of additional examinations.
Employees of Booking Health will provide you with the highest level of service. It includes the preparation of medical and administrative documents, booking hotel and plane tickets, transfer from the airport, the assistance of an interpreter, and other services.
Be the first to comment