The increasing prevalence of cancer has become a global concern in recent decades. The American Cancer Society (ACA) (2017) approximates that the number of Americans suffering from non-communicable ailments stands at thirty-eight million every year, among these individuals, eight million of them succumb to cancer. Also, ACA evaluates that in the next two decades, the number of new cases of cancer will increase by 70%. Hence, ratifying measures to handle gross cancer epidemic is indispensable (Ladvaniti, 2017). As a result, this has led to the establishment and financing of measures that can assist cancer patients to live long, promoting lifestyle changes that improve the quality of life.
Nevertheless, regardless of the attempts and improvements made to deal with the incidences of cancer within individuals globally, the cost of cancer patients has skyrocketed with people forced to dig deep in their pockets. The overwhelming costs and necessities deter a large number of cancer patients from pursuing care; therefore, such patients delay cancer care; the outcome is worsening of health and finally death (Ladvaniti, 2017) . Hence, this research will major on diagnosis and cancer staging, expound on cancer-associated complications, the knock-on effect of medication, and the measure practiced to minimize physical and outcomes.
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Diagnosis and Cancer Staging
Diagnosis of cancer implies the main protocols while ascertaining if a person is ailing from the disease. Conferring to Mayo Clinic Staff (2018), a person who is doubtful about his medical situation ought to seek for various blood tests from a clinician. An appointment with a clinician is very significant as the physician can recommend for further laboratory tests like a biopsy of the suspect part of the body or urine examination. After the inspection has been conducted, the samples obtained from the suspected body part of the patient, the part is taken to the laboratory for further analysis for any indications of cancer (Stanford Health Care, 2018) . It can be concluded that the patient has cancer if the tests read positive of cancer cells or probable proteins.
An example of a process of diagnosis is recommended by Mayo Clinic Staff (2018) as illustrated below:
Blood protein test: The test is carried out to inspect and scrutinize the proteins and cells in the blood of the patient. Likewise, the procedure is finished by a bone marrow biopsy inspection and required lab tests.
Complete blood count: This procedure entails conducting a test on the victim’s blood. The test aims to determine the count of several blood cell types that are present in the blood. Hence, it will assist in identifying any likely cancer cell. The procedure also depends on the biopsy to affirm the result of the diagnosis procedure.
Tumor marker test: Conferring to Mayo Clinic Staff (2018), the test is conducted to expose any protein or cancer cells in the blood.
The step that succeeds in a positive diagnosis is cancer staging. In reference to the American Cancer Society (2017), is the mechanism of evaluating the severity of the condition by confirming the degree to which cancer cells have distributed in the body of a victim.
Staging Types
Conferring to Stanford Health Care (2018) cancer staging can be classified into:
Clinical Stage: The stage involves physical examination to determine the extent of cancer in the client’s body. This is achieved through image tests in addition to a biopsy of the supposed part of the body.
Pathologic staging: An operating procedure conducted to verify the stage. Besides, the stage groups the acquired outcomes in the initial phase with the analysis found to analyze the metastasis of cancer in the patient’s body.
Post-Treatment staging: A stage that mainly to detect cancer that persists in a patient after chemotherapy.
Restaging: The staging is used to identify the number of cancer cells in scenarios where cancer cells reappear after treatment has concluded. Besides the phase is significant and aids clinicians to arrive at the ideal plan of medication in the incidence of cancer reappearance.
Staging systems
According to Nall (2018), t he most globally adopted system of staging is the TNM staging. TNM is an acronym to stand for: T denotes primary tumor, also known as the primary tumor; N denotes for the nodes. The phase explains if cancer has spread to nearby nodes in the body; M denotes for metastasis. The period explains if cancer has spread to neighboring body parts separate from the first parts of the body diagnosed (National Cancer Institute, 2018).
Grouping Stage
The acronym TNM can then be used to give the overall cancer staging. The stage is provided by Roman figures I-IV
Stage 0: A phase that discloses cancer that is yet to develop and has a higher success rate of treatment. Treatment is by removing the cells of the affected area through surgery.
Stage I: The phase exposes cancer as an inferior tumor that is yet spread to adjacent body organs. The stage also reveals the cancer cells are yet to affect nearby lymph nodes.
Stage II and III: These phases show the cancer type that has affected adjacent body tissues. Hence, the disease has a higher chance of affecting adjoining lymph nodes.
Stage IV: the terminal phase that signifies that cancer has multiplied to other body parts. The phase is also known as metastatic cancer (Nall, 2018) .
Cancer Complications and the side effects of therapy
Conferring to the analysis conducted by Mayo Clinic staff (2018), different patients experience different complications. Some of these complications include:
Complications of the Brain and Nervous system: this is results majorly as a result of exerted pressure to the adjoining nerves and tissues resulting in paralysis of some parts of the body.
Nausea: In this complication, cancer patients frequently complain about the unswerving urge to puke. Anti-nausea drugs are often employed in the treatment of this complication.
Challenges in breathing: cancer and its therapies are associated with various complications like breathing problems. Grounded on the evaluation conducted by the National Cancer Institute (2018), the treatments employed in cancer management leaves the patients’ with breathing challenges.
Since the effect of cancer treatment differs from patient to patient, some patients experience extreme side effects during the therapy process. These include:
Anemia
Several cancer patients mention anemia to be the main knock-on effect of therapy. Persons report indications like dizzy feeling, inability to properly breathe, and exhaustion. The trigger of anemia is mainly because of the impacts of bone marrow chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Typical bone marrow drugs and therapies result in diminished erythropoietic cell count responsible for carrying oxygen to the lungs (Nall, 2018) . The medication of anemia is dependent on the observable symptoms.
Diarrhea
The side effects of diarrhea are well known to lead to loss of fluids from the body. Likewise, diarrhea results in loss of minerals like salts and potassium (Nall, 2018) . Patients are required to report incidences of diarrhea to their clinicians.
Thrombocytopenia ( Bleeding and Bruising )
The side effect arises from the lowering of blood platelet count. Hence, the clotting mechanism is impeded, leading to sustained bleeding and bruising among patients. Treatment of this complication may entail the withdrawal of aspirin-containing drugs (Nall, 2018) . Besides, gentle brushing of the teeth may assist in combatting this side effect.
Due to the heightened side effects and complications of cancer therapy, physicians recommend measure to minimize a patient’s psychological and physical outcomes. Patients realize it difficult to deal and cope with side effects of cancer with the majority of patients reporting being abandoned and the inability to associate with peers (Ladvaniti, 2017) . Therefore, the integrative approach to cancer care with the help of a psychologist an oncologist taps into the power of the mind to cure the body (Ladvaniti, 2017) . Therapy and mental counsel can assist patients in relating to their peers. A multidisciplinary approach to cancer care is also used because patient treatment is a multifaceted approach. Different health professionals collaborate in the management of cancer patients. These professionals each can monitor early screening, diet, and frequent exercise to deter recurrence of cancer.
In conclusion, the paper covered cancer care, diagnosis of cancer, cancer staging, the difficulties and implications of cancer treatment, and the methods to reduce psychological and physical impacts. Through collaborative efforts, we can eradicate cancer.
References
American Cancer Society, (2017). Rising Global Cancer Epidemic. Retrieved May 18, 2019,
from https://www.cancer.org/research/infographics-gallery/rising-global-cancerepidemic.html
Lavdaniti, M., (2017). Holistic Nursing Approach to Patients with Cancer. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317367244_Holistic_Nursing_Approach_to_Patients_with_Cancer
Mayo Clinic Staff, (2018). Complications. Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cancer/basics/complications/con- 20032378
Mayo Clinic Staff. (2018, November 03). Why your doctor might order a cancer blood test. Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cancer/indepth/ cancer-diagnosis/art-20046459
Nall, R., (2018). Cancer: Classification, diagnosis, and symptoms. Retrieved from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323708.php
National Cancer Institute. (2018). Side Effects of Cancer Treatment. Retrieved from https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/side-effects
National Cancer Institute. (2018). Staging. Retrieved from https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/diagnosis-staging/staging
Stanford Health Care, (2018). Diagnosis. Retrieved from https://stanfordhealthcare.org/medical-conditions/cancer/cancer/cancer-diagnosis.html
