What You Should Know About Treatments for Cancer

Receiving a cancer diagnosis is life changing.  You probably have racing thoughts on what will happen now? How bad is your cancer?  What type of cancer do you have?  How far along is your cancer? Along with a million other questions.

After your doctor gives you all of this information, the main question then is what treatments are available.  The type of treatment depends largely on the type of cancer and its progressive nature. While some individuals will need only one type of treatment for their cancer, most will require a combination of treatments. Some individuals will need rather aggressive therapy.

Below are the most commonly used methods of treatment for cancer.

Types of Treatment

As stated earlier, there are numerous treatment options available for cancer. Discussing the available options with your doctor will help you understand the treatment options and help you make a good decision on which one is right for you.  That said, here are a some of the most common forms of cancer treatment.

Surgery

The goal of any physician is to remove the foreign invader from the body this makes surgery a great option. This option is best when the cancer is caught in its early stages, or is localized. Surgery is by far the most popular choice. Although in some cases, patients are too weak to undergo surgery. The further along the cancer, the harder it is to perform surgery on the patient. An individual’s general health status is of great concern and must be in good shape to withstand surgery.

Chemotherapy

Chemo is short for chemotherapy, it is the use of pharmacotherapy to treat cancer.  A drug or combination of drugs is administered to try to stop or slow the progression of the cancer.  There are many forms that chemotherapy can be administered.  It can be given through an IV, pill form, cream, or by injection.  The physician evaluates the type of cancer, its stage, and any other health problems before selecting a chemo method.

When tumors are causing pain in a specific area, chemo shrinks the tumors to allow relief.  It serves as a great option for inoperable tumors especially in places such as bowels and lungs.  In many cases, this method can be used to cure cancer or to ensure it doesn’t return.  While chemo kills the bad cancer cells, it also kills the good cells in the body too.  Due to its harsh nature, it may lead to hair loss, burns on the body, and vomiting.

Radiation

Radiation is used in small doses during x-rays, CT scans, and MRIs.  However, in higher doses, radiation has proven to be effective in shrinking tumors and eradicating cancer cells.  Radiation does not act immediately. It usually takes from days to weeks for the cells to die.

Radiation is given either through external or internal beam.  In external beams, the radiation is pinpointed to the location where the cancer is growing while making no contact, it targets the area with ease.  Internal radiation  is given either in solid or liquid form.  External beam has been known to have fewer side effects because it can be focused on one particular area.

Use of Brachytherapy is a type of internal radiation that puts seeds or capsules near the cancer.  Liquid radiation is given through an intravenous access line.  It travels through the body looking to destroy any cancer cells it comes in contact with.  But this now makes it harder to prevent or reduce the incidence of adverse reactions.

Radiation and chemotherapy are given simultaneously in many cases.

Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy is a form of biological therapy.  The Immune therapy works by increasing the capacity of the immune system to fight off the cancer.  The immune system is made up of the white blood cells, organs and tissues of the lymph system.  The most popular types of immunotherapy include monoclonal antibodies, adoptive cell transfer, cytokines, treatment vaccines, and Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG).  Though this type of therapy is not as widely used as the top three, it has been approved as a treatment for many types of cancer.

Clinical Trials

It is not uncommon for clinical trials to pop up as options.  Clinical trials are exploratory studies that include real people.  However, if you intend to enroll in an experimental trial, you should make sure you have all the facts of  the outcome and possible side effects as well as to enable you to decide if it is a viable option for you.

Finding What Works For You

The above treatment options are the most common treatments available; however, there are new options being developed all the time.  For every cancer treatment, there is the potential for side effects since treatment affects both the healthy and unhealthy tissue.  When deciding what treatment options are best, the doctor doesn’t just use generic calculations.  They put into consideration; your age, other health conditions, type of cancer, stage of cancer, and side effects expected.

The most common side effects with these treatments are fever, pain, vomiting, nausea, and hair loss.  It may take several trial and error treatments to find the unique combination that works for you.  Having a great team fighting for your health, along with the right treatments, goes a long way in battling cancer.