Introduction
Cancer remains a high-fatality
disease with more than half-million deaths every year in the United States
alone. Yet, over the past five years, incidence of cancer has dramatically
decreased by 0.6% per year for men and stable rate for women, even for countries
that don't have the required treatment centers such as impoverished nations of
Africa. Fortunately, the reduction by 1.8% cancer deaths for men and 1.6% for
women every year is also another indication of acceleration of the effort to
control cancer's impact on the health of individuals across different segments
of the society (Siegel, et.al., 2012). With this figure, medical professionals
and cancer patient sufferers and survivors are hopeful that one day this
terminal disease will be reduced if not eliminated to allow sufferers to live a
normal and healthy life.
Available statistics indicates the
appreciation and effectiveness of the cancer treatments being applied to cancer
sufferers. In the same manner, the statistics tells the effort of governments
to avoid the incidence of cancer through extensive cancer knowledge. Several
research and development centers are supported by the government to find ways
and agents in curing cancer to alleviate conditions of sufferers. Elwood &
Sutcliffe (2010) defines cancer control as the aim “to reduce the incidence and
mortality of cancer, and to enhance the quality of life of those affected by
cancer” through detection, intervention, treatment and rehabilitation or
recovery. As a comprehensive program, it involves the integral treatment of the
illness and the rehabilitation to stop recurrence of cancer cells in the body
of the person.
This
research aims to examine the development of cancer treatment for the past ten
years, which could have played a major role to the decline of cancer fatality.
It analyzes the initiative of both private and public sectors in formulating
proper cancer treatment methods with the aim of stamping down the ill effects
of cancer. Understanding the background of cancer control helps to bridge the
gap of treatment and recovery for the benefit of cancer patients, their most
immediate family, health care practitioners, and medical health professionals.
Specifically, this research centers on the development of cancer control and
treatment, which emphasizes public awareness, early detection, and the
necessity of psychotherapy to reduce the side effects of chemotherapeutic
treatments.
Cancer Prevention and
Control
People
often mistake one thing from another, like in the case of Cancer Treatment, and
Cancer Control. Cancer can be dealt with by Treatment, and Prevention (Elwood
& Sutcliffe, 2010).
Cancer can be treated by surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy,
immunotherapy, and monoclonal antibody therapy. The choice of therapy depends
upon the location and grade of the tumor and the stage of the disease, as well
as the general state of the patient. A number of experimental cancer treatments
are also under research, experimentation and development.
Because
"cancer" refers to a class of diseases,it is unlikely that there will
ever be a single "cure for cancer" any more than there will be a
single treatment for all infectious diseases. Angiogenesis inhibitors were once
thought to have potential as a "silver bullet" treatment applicable
to many types of cancer, but this has not been the case in practice.
Cancer
prevention, on the other hand, is defined as active measures to decrease the
risk of having cancer. The vast majority of cancer cases are due to
environmental risk factors, and many, but not all, of these environmental
factors are controllable lifestyle choices. Thus, cancer is considered a
largely preventable disease. Greater than 30% of cancer deaths could be
prevented by avoiding risk factors including: tobacco, overweight/obesity, an
insufficient diet, physical inactivity, alcohol, sexually transmitted
infections, and air pollution (Siegel, et.al., 2012). Not all environmental
causes are controllable, such as naturally occurring background radiation, and
other cases of cancer are caused through hereditary genetic disorders, and thus
it is not possible to prevent all cases of cancer.
Several
biologists and physicians are still baffled by this illness that they cannot
define cancer in simple terms. But using the variation used in the dictionary,
cancer is defined as "the abnormal growth of cells caused by multiple
changes in gene expression leading to dysregulated balance of cell
proliferation and cell death and ultimately evolving into a population of cells
that can invade tissues (Ruddon, 2007)." Cancer appears in varied types
and characteristics which make the treatment process more complex and
sophisticated. Cancer affects both male
and female, age or race; this is a global illness that is seen to affect more
and more people in the new few years as the result of the person's lifestyle,
food intake and environment population.
For the past ten
years, various cancer treatments have been developed and advanced as a solution
to cancer, but these treatments, ranging from the conventional chemotherapy to
the bizarre, have their own ill effects on the lives of patients. Looking at history,
the first cancer treatment center was established in 1740 in France, though the
center had to removed from the city to the outskirts for fear that cancer is a
contagious disease (David, 1995). Yet the development of cancer treatments have
evolved for several centuries. It was during the 17th century that theory of
cancer took its step toward the future definition. However, until today, the
treatment of cancer still remained a baffling concern that keeps biologists and
researchers stuck on how to cure this terminal disease (Burke, et.al., 2001).
Cancer care is a
complex network of medical schedules and plans employed by medical and health
professionals to treat and rehabilitate cancer patients (Chang, 2006, p. 176).
Unlike other diseases that can be easily treated through surgery, surgical
operations on cancer patients don't end the problem, but it is still necessary
for the patient to receive necessary care for recovery and rehabilitation. With
the proper cancer treatment program, cancer can be eliminated from the body of
the person and percentage of recurrence of the illness is reduced.
Yet, there are
still public health concerns that must be taken into account in the development
of cancer treatment. First, it is necessary to understand the process of cancer
prevention as to the ethical concerns of early detection, screening and education.
In public health the primary concern is how to prevent the occurrence of cancer
and the spread of cancer cells in other tissues of the body. Screening is a
very importance issue that should be put into light. If only cancer cells are
screen and detection at an early stage, it is easy to treat cancer. But for
impoverished nations like in Africa, screening becomes a big problem. Second,
the lack of public health knowledge leads to the recurrence of cancer due to
wrong cancer care considerations such as "treatment, survivorship,
palliative care and end-of-life care (Holtz, 2008)."
Public Awareness
As studies have
shown, lifestyle is now recognized as a main determinant of cancer risk. Public
education has become an important component of cancer control programmes, and
has been proven to be effective in leading to life-style changes. Four basic
types of education programmes are reviewed: for increasing the public's
awareness of cancer, for changing specific risk behavior, like quitting smoking
tobacco, for learning self-examination skills, like breast self-examination,
and for promoting early cancer detection in the community.
To change human behavior it is best to approach the
risk habit through the same forces that develop and sustain the habit. Simply
giving information of an association between specific habits and cancer, even
if repeated several times, will lead to increased public awareness and
encourage some to make a minimal effort to change their behavior, but in
general the new habit does not persist and continuing and intensifying this
approach are ineffective. An alternative strategy utilizes socially active
forces to support the prevention practice and remove possible barriers to
action. For example, an anti smoking programme should create a favorable social
image of the non-smoker. Although a culturally and socially relevant mass media
campaign can influence knowledge and beliefs and induce people to participate
in a screening activity, this needs to be supplemented over a period of time by
personal contact methods, such as group discussions, telephone conversations
and home visits, in order to promote a regular screening habit. Contrary to
popular opinion, mass communication methods can be expensive on a per person
cost-effectiveness basis because of low participation rates and weakness in
sustaining healthy behaviour.
Let
us take one example of a country that has made cancer awareness its primary
concern. In Japan, cancer has been recognized as a major component of the
overall pattern of disease for decades. Thus, the importance of cancer
prevention by lifestyle changes should now be strongly acknowledged.
Internationally,
several studies have estimated the proportion of total cancer deaths
attributable to various risk factors based on epidemiologic evidence, and
various international guidelines and recommendations derived from these have
appeared. Unsurprisingly, domestic guidelines and recommendations for cancer
prevention in Japan such as the Twelve recommendations for cancer prevention
and Healthy People Japan 21 have been significantly influenced by these
reports.
Public
awareness of risk factors in relation to cancer prevention has been surveyed in
only a few countries, and results have demonstrated poor awareness. Other
studies focusing on specific cancers only have also appeared. However, none of
these studies quantitatively evaluated public awareness of the attributable
fraction of individual risk factors.
In Japan, it
seems that most people are aware of the major risk factors of cancer. Although
we are unaware of any published evidence, however, public knowledge and
information on cancer prevention now seems influenced largely by the mass media
and other sources, rather than by information provided directly by health
professionals, resulting in a distorted picture of causation. Cancer control
policy therefore urgently requires a clarification of the discrepancies which
now exist between ideal levels of public concern about risk factors and the
current reality, particularly public health policy makers in their formulation
of cancer control measures. To address this need, the present studies were
designed to provide information on awareness of the attributable fraction of
cancer causes among the Japanese general population. Since we are interested in
quantitatively estimating the awareness of preventability, we placed special
emphasis on gauging awareness by attributable fraction of cancer.
Early Detection and Follow-Ups
Follow-up cancer care
involves regular checkups that include a revisiting of a patient’s medical
history, and with it, a physical examination. Follow-up care may include
imaging procedures which are methods of producing pictures of areas inside a
patient's body, endoscopy, which is the use of a thin, lighted tube to examine
the inside of the body, some blood work, and other lab examinations.
Follow-up care is
absolutely important because it helps to point out the changes in a patient's
health. The purpose of follow-up care is to check for recurrence or the return
of cancer in the primary area or metastasis, which is the spread of cancer to another
part of a patient's body. Follow-up care consultations are also important to
aid in the prevention, or in some cases, early detection of other types of
cancer, take care of ongoing problems due to cancer or its treatment, and check
for psychosocial and physical effects that may develop after months or years of
the treatment has ended. It is imperative that all cancer survivors should have
follow-up care.
During each visit to
their doctors, patients must tell their doctor about any symptoms that they
think may be an indication that their cancer has returned. If their are any
pains that has and still bothers them, they should have it checked out, or if
there are any physical problems that interfere with their daily lives or have
proved to be bothersome, such as fatigue; difficulty with bladder, bowel, or
sexual function; difficulty concentrating; memory changes; trouble sleeping;
and weight gain or loss. Also, indicating if there are any medicines, vitamins,
or herbs they are taking and any other treatments they are have used and are
still using. Emotional problems are also indicators, such as anxiety or
depression, all of which must be looked into. Even changes in their family
medical history, including any new cancers will have to be taken into account.
In fact, questions are raised
concerning the effectiveness of the cancer treatment due to the recurrence of cancer cells after
certain period of time. Most of cancer incidence will develop again after two
years after the initial treatment. With
the recurrence of cancer, most sufferers don't consider or sometimes discard
the idea of getting cancer treatment, or simply, sufferers lose hope that they
can still be treated. Yet, cancer sufferers are sometimes left without choice
but to rest chances on the cancer care and treatments. Most of them already
accept already the reality of death, but they just try cancer treatments as an
act of gamble and without clear success. This is the common scenario of most
cancer centers and hospitals.
It is important to bear
in mind that cancer recurrences are not always detected during follow-up
visits. Many times, recurrences are suspected or found by patients themselves
between scheduled checkups. It is important for patients to be aware of changes
in their health, by doing self-examinations, and report any problems to their
doctor. The doctor can then determine whether the problems are related to the
cancer, the treatment the patient received, or an unrelated health issue.
At these follow-up
appointments, the doctor may suggest some tests to check for recurrence or to
screen for other types of cancer. In most cases, it is not clear that special
follow-up tests improve survival or quality of life. This is why it is important
for the doctor to help know what follow-up care plan eis deemed appropriate for
the given situation. The doctor may not need to do any tests if the person
appears to be in good physical condition and does not have any symptoms of
cancer. It is important for the patient to talk with the doctor about any
inquiries or concerns related to the follow-up care plan.
Aside from early screening and detection advancements, “new
chemotherapeutic agents and regimens have emerged as active therapies for both
operable and metastatic breast cancer (Hunt, 2008).” According to Ko, et.al. (2008), more than
half of cancer sufferers (of those diagnosed and reported) receive chemotherapy
treatment for cancer elimination. Chemotherapy is the most trusted cancer
treatment to enable the person to enjoy a productive life. Chemotherapy is
defined as the treatment of cancer through carefully selected chemical drugs or
agents that are destructive to cancer cells of the body. Historically, this
type of treatment can be traced to olden times of Ancient Greeks. Today, a
comprehensive chemotherapy regimen is a "treatment plan that usually
includes drugs to fight cancer and drugs to help support completion of the
cancer treatment at the full dose on schedule (ibid)." A chemotherapy
regimen is one of the most successful cancer treatments that are used by
medical professionals and cancer centers in treating cancer.
Psychotherapy for Cancer Survivor Recovery
The goals of a
chemotherapy regimen is to cure a specific type of cancer. However,
chemotherapy has its side effects, both short-term such as bleeding and hair
loss, and long-term effects such as heart or lung damage, infertility, and
liver failure. There are several adverse
effects that are as alarming as cancer itself. During the treatment, it is
usual for the immune system to drop its guard making the person vulnerable to
fatal infections (Dicato, 2013). Most of cancer sufferers that undergo this
treatment are weak and don't have the capacity to leave a normal life during
and a considerable time after the treatment. Moreover, cancer patients
suffering bleeding, over fatigue, gastrointestinal diseases such as vomiting
and nausea, and hair loss.
Although a cancer
sufferer may survive the toll of cancer but the side effects of the treatment
process may be the reason of the person's death. As the toxicity of the person
rises due to chemotherapy agents or drugs, the body has to cope with the impact
of infections, which may lead to death.
In fact, there are other cancer treatment methods that are introduced
and experimented by doctors to treat specific types of cancer. For instance,
doctors are testing the tiny radioactive "seeds" to eliminate prostate
cancer cells out of the person's body (Stower, 2000). Actually, for this new
and bizarre treatment methods, physicians and biologists are just gambling the
life of a cancer patient.
Cancer treatments
may have their positive impact to eliminate cancer cells, but the same result
to mental and psychological problems on the part of the patient. According to
Singletary, et.al. (2004), most of the "on psychological adjustment to
breast cancer showed that... most women experience considerable distress at the
time of breast cancer diagnosis." It must be noted that the goal of cancer
treatment to enable the person or the suffer to have back the productive and
quality he or she had before cancer occurrence. The psychological adverse
effects of cancer is led to other stress-related problems such as the other
psychosocial aspects of the person including behavioral and environmental
factors (Yarbro, et.al., 2005).
Aside from the
psychological effects during the treatment process, there are also several
psychological late effects that should be considered a threat to the quality of
life of a cancer patient or survivor. At the top of this is fear of recurrence,
which leads to paranoia. Due to the fact that cancer treatments don't promise
total elimination of the cancer strain or the risk of cancer, sufferers are
paranoid that it will reoccur. As a result, the survivor or patient does not
live his or her life productively and to the fullest. In the end, this fear
becomes a depression. Cancer-related thoughts create problems of the mindset of
the person and quality of life that the person lives. Most women cancer
survivors have hard time in getting back to the life they had before and to
maintain a strong relationship with other people. This can be considered a
post-traumatic effect of the cancer treatment or drugs.
For medical
practitioners, the psychological effects of cancer treatments can be resolved
by personal discipline. Psychosocial distress can be reduced and eliminate
through social support. Social support is provided by the family, immediate
people within the environment of the sufferer or survivor (National Research
Council, 2004). It includes basic instrumental support such as preparation of
meals, transportation to appointments, and help for daily activities of the
person. It is necessary to provide these basic aids to the survivor to get him
or her needs anytime.
The mental and
behavioral disorder of the cancer patient is not the result of cancer
treatments, but by the irritation of being confined to beds or hospitals. Only
the physical side effects are clear manifestations of the side effects of
cancer. The psychological and psychosocial issues of cancer treatment is not a
problem that can cause death. In fact, with the support of the family, these
effects can be eliminated easily. There is no need to capitalize these issues
to discredit or scare sufferers from the treatment.
The attitude and
outlook in life of a cancer patient is very important for treatment of cancer.
Even if the cancer treatment is so effective and promising, without the
attitude and outlook of the patient it is impossible to be successful in
treating cancer. This is the reason why most cancer centers provide the best
environment and treat cancer patients as if they are not patients, but just
guests. Through this support, the cancer sufferers still find life to great,
and it will drive him or her to fight cancer and to pursue the treatment. In fact, in any kind of illness, the outlook
of survival plays a very important role in the treatment of the person.
Conclusion
Although, statistics shows that
these cancer treatments employed by health professionals are effective in
stamping down the mortality rate of cancer patients, but there are still
questions as to their side effects on the psychological and mental health of a
person. With the reduction of those who died due to cancer, it is easy to
assume that these cancer treatments are effective in curing cancer. However,
the real question is how can these cancer treatments secure that the cancer
sufferer will live. Most chemotherapeutic regimens and techniques still have
issues of side effects; these side effects are sometimes more fatal than the
real problem, which is cancer.
Researchers have not yet come up
with a novel cancer treatment that ensures elimination of cancer without its
recurrence and side effects of the treatment. For these past ten years,
researchers are doing their best to find that one single technique, a single
drug and a single treatment that ensure the life of a cancer sufferer. In the
next few years, cancer treatments will be more advanced, more effective, and
more hopeful for cancer patients to live than to die in complications and side
effects. And by then, cancer patients will have a better chance of survival and
an opportunity to enjoy life at its best without fear that one day cancer will
become and haunt them over again.
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