Oncology
Cancer treatment
Cancer treatment is the use of surgery, radiation, medications and other therapies to cure a cancer shrink a cancer or stop the progression of a cancer. Many cancer treatments exist. Depending on your particular situation, you may receive one treatment or you may receive a combination of treatments. The goal of cancer treatment is to achieve a cure for your cancer, allowing you to live a normal life span. This may or may not be possible, depending on your specific situation. If a cure isn’t possible, your treatments may be used to shrink your cancer or slow the growth of your cancer to allow you to live symptom free for as long as possible.
Types of Cancer treatment
Many cancer treatments are available. Your treatment options will depend on several factors, such as the type and stage of your cancer, your general health, and your preferences. Together you and your doctor can weigh the benefits and risks of each cancer treatment to determine which is best for you.
Surgery
The goal of surgery is to remove the cancer or as much of the cancer as possible.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells.
Radiation therapy
Radiation therapy uses high-powered energy beams, such as X-rays or protons, to kill cancer cells. Radiation treatment can come from a machine outside your body (external beam radiation), or it can be placed inside your body (brachytherapy).
Bone marrow transplant
Your bone marrow is the material inside your bones that makes blood cells from blood stem cells. A bone marrow transplant, also known as a stem cell transplant, can use your own bone marrow stem cells or those from a donor.
A bone marrow transplant allows your doctor to use higher doses of chemotherapy to treat your cancer. It may also be used to replace diseased bone marrow.
Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy, also known as biological therapy, uses your body’s immune system to fight cancer. Cancer can survive unchecked in your body because your immune system doesn’t recognize it as an intruder. Immunotherapy can help your immune system “see” the cancer and attack it.
Hormone therapy
Some types of cancer are fueled by your body’s hormones. Examples include breast cancer and prostate cancer. Removing those hormones from the body or blocking their effects may cause the cancer cells to stop growing.
Targeted drug therapy
Targeted drug treatment focuses on specific abnormalities within cancer cells that allow them to survive.
Cryoablation
This treatment kills cancer cells with cold. During cryoablation, a thin, wandlike needle (cryoprobe) is inserted through your skin and directly into the cancerous tumor. A gas is pumped into the cryoprobe in order to freeze the tissue. Then the tissue is allowed to thaw. The freezing and thawing process is repeated several times during the same treatment session in order to kill the cancer cells.
Radiofrequency ablation
This treatment uses electrical energy to heat cancer cells, causing them to die. During radiofrequency ablation, a doctor guides a thin needle through the skin or through an incision and into the cancer tissue. High-frequency energy passes through the needle and causes the surrounding tissue to heat up, killing the nearby cells.
