There are many diseases that confuse the medical profession, especially cancer. No matter the background or age, they are always afraid of cancer monsters coming to the door and ringing the countdown clock of life. Cancer, as the second-ranked killer in the world, is getting younger and younger in recent years. With the advancement of medical technology, more discoveries have been made on the causes and origins of cancer. In addition to the familiar chemotherapy and radiotherapy, “immunotherapy” has begun to enter the public’s attention in the past five years. Medical oncologist Qiu Zongxiang looks back on the evolution of cancer treatment in the past ten years and brings hope for “five years” to patients with advanced cancer through “precision treatment”.
Increased health attention leads to “rejuvenation of cancer”
In the past decade, the number of cancer patients aged 20 to 44 has been increasing, and “cancer younger” has become a topic of public concern. Dr. Qiu Zongxiang observed that modern people are different from the old concept of “seeing a doctor first when they are sick”. More young people are concerned regarding their personal health and will have regular physical examinations. In addition, the application of precision medicine is becoming more and more mature, and it is possible to detect diseases in the body early. Cancer cells, thus forming the phenomenon that the outside world thinks of “rejuvenation”. However, Dr. Qiu still found a lot of advanced cancer cases. “Although urban people tend to live a healthy life, there are still a small number of people who ignore the importance of health and even avoid diseases and delay treatment.”
Cancer is unpredictable, and patients will always repeatedly ask the doctor how to treat it. The most well-known treatment methods are mainly radiation therapy (commonly known as electrotherapy) and chemotherapy (referred to as chemotherapy). Unfortunately, the above methods may damage the normal tissues of the body , bring different degrees of side effects, such as vomiting, diarrhea and hair loss. More than a decade ago, targeted therapy ushered in a glimmer of light for cancer patients with genetic mutations. Five years ago, Hong Kong launched “immunotherapy”, which is different from other traditional treatments to kill cancer cells. The new therapy targets the body’s own immune mechanism and reactivates the body’s immune response. The side effects are also different from chemotherapy.
Changing cancer treatments to reduce side effects misperceptions
Regarding immunotherapy, Dr. Qiu said bluntly: “Immunotherapy has changed the treatment methods for patients with advanced cancer.” It was originally only used for melanoma, and is now widely used in lung cancer and liver cancer. Immunotherapy, which targets the immune system’s natural defense mechanisms, is expected to clear cancer cells and bring longer-lasting effects to patients, he noted.
The Hong Kong Cancer Society has conducted a survey on immunotherapy and found that patients generally have misunderstandings and thus miss the golden period of treatment. Although some people still compare the side effects of immunotherapy with chemotherapy, Dr. Yau is still pleased to see that the public’s acceptance and correct understanding of immunotherapy have increased. He explained that compared with chemotherapy, immunotherapy alone has fewer and milder side effects, which can effectively improve the survival rate of patients and help reduce the risk of recurrence. However, patients still need to pay attention to the inflammatory side effects caused by immunotherapy.
Immunotherapy has become a new index for lung cancer treatment, used alone or mixed flexibly
Lung cancer is the number one killer of cancer in Hong Kong. Because the symptoms of early stage lung cancer are not obvious, most patients are already in the middle and late stages when diagnosed. For those lung cancers without driver gene mutations, chemotherapy was mainly used in the past. He described that since the introduction of international data on immunotherapy for the treatment of advanced lung cancer in the past five years, the medical community has taken it as the “backbone” of the entire advanced lung cancer treatment, and then decides whether it needs to be mixed with other treatment plans according to the patient’s condition. There are thousands of types, and there is no one specified. Sometimes immunotherapy is used alone or mixed with other treatments. The most important thing is to decide which treatment plan is suitable depending on the patient’s physical quality and the type of cancer.”
As for the prime time for treatment, Dr. Qiu believes: “Usually the sooner the better, and when the immune cells in the body are healthy, immunotherapy can complement each other.” He said that no one is completely unsuitable to use immunotherapy, “patients in their 80s also use it. Immunotherapy.” However, each patient will have a different response to the treatment, and caution should be exercised in the application, but there are also some special cases. For example, patients who have undergone organ transplantation and have immune system diseases may not be suitable for the use of immunotherapy. treat.
Immunotherapy is highly effective, and advanced lung cancer cases have not recurred in four years
Dr. Qiu has served in public hospitals for more than 20 years, and has witnessed many cancer patients’ struggle stories to overcome the disease. There was a lung cancer patient 4 years ago that he still remembers very fondly. He said: “At that time, the patient’s lung cancer cells had spread to the brain, and other doctors asserted that he had only 3 months to live, but he was unwilling to be knocked down by reality and still actively sought medical treatment from me. In the end, I used immunotherapy within a year and a half. Combined with chemotherapy, the cancer cells in this fourth stage cancer patient have been successfully removed, and there has been no recurrence in the past 4 years.”
In addition to front-line medical care work, Dr. Qiu also actively participates in teaching and research. He said that immunotherapy has been available for 7 or 8 years, and scholars are still trying to find a better combination of immunotherapy. He described: “In the past five years, the development of cancer treatment following the advent of immunotherapy, incurable diseases can develop into “chronic diseases”, greatly improving the survival rate and hope of patients. “Although immunotherapy has traditionally focused on advanced stages, the medical community is now beginning to study the feasibility of adjuvant therapy in early stage cancer patients. Dr. Qiu pointed out that patients with advanced lung cancer who are currently receiving immunotherapy in the first line have a one-fifth chance of being alive following five years. Looking forward to the future, more relevant studies will be conducted to introduce different types of immunotherapy methods. Help continue to improve the rate of advanced cancer treatment.
This article was produced with the support of MSD to encourage public awareness of health information.
HK-KEY-00468 Jun / 2022
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