Can chemotherapy cure lung cancer

Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to treat cancer. These special drugs can kill tumor cells and are sometimes called cytotoxic drugs. Chemotherapy is currently one of the main methods for treating tumors and certain autoimmune diseases, but chemotherapy is a "burn-all-out" treatment method.

Chemotherapy for metastatic lung or colorectal cancer can extend life for weeks or months and may provide relief, but it cannot cure the disease. A clinical study published in NEJM shows that many advanced cancer patients who receive chemotherapy do not understand that chemotherapy cannot cure the disease. However, many cancer patients are not aware of this reality.

In an international, prospective, observational cohort study, 1193 patients who were newly diagnosed with recurrent metastatic (stage IV) lung or colorectal cancer who had received chemotherapy and survived for more than 4 months were included. The researchers sought to determine the distribution of patients' expectations of chemotherapy efficacy and the impact of such expectations on clinical chemotherapy, as well as sociodemographic and health system factors.

Patient data were obtained from professional records and medical records. Overall, 69 percent of lung cancer patients and 81 percent of colorectal cancer patients did not understand that chemotherapy was not a cure for cancer. Education, functional status, and role in the decision-making process were not associated with inaccurate beliefs about chemotherapy.

This suggests that many patients with incurable cancer choose to receive chemotherapy, but they may not know that chemotherapy is unlikely to be curative, which may affect their ability to make informed treatment decisions and choose treatment contrary to their own wishes. Therefore, doctors need to change patients' understanding, but this may reduce patient satisfaction.

Chemotherapy kills normal cells while killing cancer cells. It can also cause side effects such as gastrointestinal dysfunction and bone marrow suppression, which greatly reduces the patient's quality of life. During chemotherapy, reasonable and sufficient nutrition can ensure the smooth implementation of the treatment plan. The principle of choosing food is: a light diet with high calories, high vitamins and low fat. Pay attention to adding taste, such as sweet and sour, which can stimulate appetite and reduce nausea, vomiting and loss of appetite caused by chemotherapy.