Introduction
Treating small cell cancer comes down to the kind that you have. The two most common small cell cancers are lung and breast. Great strides have been taken to find cures for both, even though it has not happened yet. With any cancer the sooner that you find the cancer the better chance you have at surviving. How you proceed with the treatment is up to you and your doctor and yes, you do have a say in what kind of cancer small cell that you want to try. Coming up with a plan with your doctor is the first step that you need to pursue.
History
Having cancer small cell is different than having big cell cancer and can be detected by how the cells look under a microscope. The doctor will also determine the area that the cancer covers, the treatment for cancer small cell of the lungs. Surgery could be the first thing that a doctor does to see what type of cancer you do have. While doing the surgery the doctors may also take lymph nodes to see if they have been affected by the cancer yet. If the doctor feels that he has been successful at removing most of the cancer, he, might still want you to go for chemotherapy to make sure that all of the cancer small cell have been removed. After all of your treatment the doctor will do test to see if the cancer is gone. If it is, he will advice you to make sure that you go back for check ups to make sure everything still looks good.
Features
Small cell carcinoma of the breast is one of the more aggressive forms of cancer. It has been referred to as the Oat Cell cancer of the breast. It is almost always cancer that has spread from the lung. It is a rare breast cancer and has been shown in women from ages 40 to 70 and even an occasional man. Before doctors can set up treatment for cancer small cell of this nature they have to understand what they are dealing with and this can be difficult to determine. The first thing they have to determine is if it started in the lung and metastized from the lung or somewhere else in the body. Doctors will do scans and biopsies from different parts of the body so they can pinpoint a location that it started. Being able to find where the cancer started will be their first defense in helping you beat it. There is no clear cut way to cure this cancer because it is so rare. The five year survival rate seems to be the same as with regular breast cancer, even though your treatment might be more aggressive.
Tips and Comments
Having cancer small cell presents doctors with a new problem of how to treat the cancer. Most of the small cell cancer is more aggressive and this takes different treatments to cure. There is no clear cut and dry way to handle cancer small cell. You can make sure you keep open communication with your doctor and be open for any suggestions that he has for treatment.
