The treatments for lung cancer are generally extensive. A few people will be lucky enough to have a small tumor that makes them a candidate for stereotactic body radiotherapy. This is a form of radiation in which the tumor is radiated from several different angles and only works for people who have only one small tumor. Sometimes the tumor can be zapped into oblivion in two to five sessions on an outpatient basis. One third of patients diagnosed with lung cancer have caught the disease early enough to eradicate it with surgery. In performing surgery, physicians will remove as little of the lung as possible. In some cases, they will remove only a wedge of a lung, in other cases, a lobe of the lung will be removed. In severe cases, the patient may have to sacrifice an entire lung. Because lung cancer so often spreads to other parts of the body, surgeons performing a lung resection will likely also remove lymph nodes which are sent to the laboratory for examination to determine if the cancer has metastasized. Future treatments may well be based on what is discovered from these lymph node extractions. A patient who has lost part or all of a lung will have more difficulty breathing than he or she did before surgery.

The choice of treatment greatly effects the side effects and prognosis that a patient will experience. Surgery: Immediately after surgery pain will be the most common side effect, which is why a proper pain treatment plan should be discussed. Occasionally surgery can result in more serious side effects that include excess bleeding, pneumonia, and death. Recovery for lung cancer surgery can vary from weeks to months and generally depends on the health of the individual and their lungs before the surgical procedure was performed. Although invasive, surgery is the best option for early stage NSCLC, but is not effective against more advanced stages. Radiofrequency ablation (RFA): The side effects for RFA are generally mild and mainly include minor pain. Occasionally, RFA can cause a partial collapse of the lung. Radiation: The side effects for radiation treatment of NSCLC are similar to radiation treatment for other cancer. They include fatigue, nausea, vomiting, weight loss, and hair loss. Chemotherapy: Like radiation, chemotherapeutic side effects include hair loss, nausea, vomiting, mouth sores, fatigue, and loss of appetite. Targeted therapies: The side effects of targeted therapies are similar to chemotherapeutic side effects and include, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, diarrhea, and constipation. Immunotherapy: Side effects for immunotherapy include fatigue, cough, skin rash, itching, loss of appetite, nausea, and vomiting.

Preventative measures remain the best option to fight lung cancer despite the advancements made in therapeutics and diagnostics. One major risk factor of lung cancer is tobacco smoking, causing 80% of lung cancer deaths. Exposures to other chemicals like radon and diesel exhaust also cause lung cancer. Preventing these exposures will allow for great strides to be made in preventing lung cancer and decreasing the number of new cases and deaths. On the individual level, following cancer treatment it is important for the patient to eat healthy, get exercise, obtain regular check ups and most importantly stay away from risk factors like tobacco, radon, and diesel exhaust. Lifestyle changes are often associated with a better prognosis and higher quality of life after treatment, and therefore should be a top priority for anyone recovering from NSCLC.

Multiple Sclerosis Overview Multiple sclerosis or MS is a chronic and progressive disease of the central nervous system, including the spinal cord and brain. The exact cause is not known but thought to be the result of genetics plus environmental factors. While MS is not curable, there are medications that can help slow progression. MS is autoimmune, meaning a disease in which the body mistakes its own healthy cells as foreign cells that need to be destroyed. In Multiple Sclerosis the immune cells attack the myelin sheath surrounding the nerve fibers. The myelin sheath is the insulation that surrounds the nerves and allows the messages between nerves or “nerve impulses” to move faster.  As the disease progresses, the nerves become perminately damaged and communication between the brain and body is hindered. Brains of patients with MS show infiltration of T cells and macrophages, along with myelin breakdown and degeneration of axons. The typical onset of symptoms occur from age 20-50 but can develop at any age. Around 30% of patients will develop a significant disability that affects everyday life within 20-30 years from onset.  Around 400,000 people in the United States and 2.5 million people worldwide are diagnosed with MS. With women 3x as likely to develop MS than men.

MS is a disease of the nerves in the central nervous system or CNS. The CNS which consists of the brain and spinal cord, is needed for the input and coordinated from and to all other areas of the body. When the CNS is not functioning properly many systems in the body are affected. MS is thought to be the result of an autoimmune trigger that causes the body to activate the immune system. Once this trigger occurs inflammatory components of the immune system such as cytokines are able to enter the CNS, which is usually blocked by the blood brain barrier. The blood brain barrier is the body’s way of protecting the CNS against molecules that are not supposed to enter. This leads to inflammation, demyelination, and axonal destruction in the CNS. Demyelination is the breakdown of the myelin sheath surrounding the nerve fibers that is used to protect the nerves and allows nerve impulses to move faster. Myelin is basically the same thing as insulation that coats electrical wires.  When it becomes damaged, the nerve fibers become exposed and the electrical messages traveling down or up the nerve fibers can become diminished. It is important for nerve impulses to move quickly in order to carry messages to and from the CNS and body.