Common Cancer Treatments

The common cancer treatments are surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immuneotherapy or a combination of these therapies. The choice of therapy depends on the location, grade and stage of the tumor. In addition, the functional status of the patient is an important factor in determining the therapy. The aim of any treatment is complete removal of the cancer, but this is rarely achieved with any therapy.

Surgery is the ideal treatment if the cancer can be removed completely, but this is not always possible. In many cases, the tumor has spread and thus surgery is only possible for the small localized lesions. Surgery is also required to see the stage of the cancer and to determine if it has spread. The predicted outcome of any cancer depends on what stage it is at.

Surgery is not a small undertaking and it is also associated with a fair number of complications. However, the treatment of lung, stomach, colon and many other solid cancers is surgery, when they are found early. Surgery has a minimal role in cancers which have spread. Other associated complications of surgery include pain, large incisions, and restriction of function which may last a long time.

In most cancers, radiation therapy is used to kill the cancer cells or shrink the cancer. Radiation therapy can be applied either via an external beam machine or small “rice sized” implants can be placed in the body where the tumors is (brachytherapy).

Although radiation damages both cancer cells and normal cells, most normal cells can recover from the effects of radiation and function properly. The goal of radiation therapy is to damage as many cancer cells as possible, while limiting harm to nearby healthy tissue. Hence, it is given in many fractions, allowing healthy tissue to recover between fractions.

Radiation therapy may be used to treat almost every type of solid tumor, and the dose to each site depends on a number of factors, including the radiosensitivity of each cancer type and whether there are tissues and organs nearby that may be damaged by radiation.

As with every form of treatment, radiation therapy is not without side effects. The side effects of radiation therapy include nausea, vomiting, hair loss, a depressed immune system and sterility.

Common Cancer Treatments: Part 2