Thanks to recent advances in the medical community, there are more cancer treatments available now than ever. This allows doctors to create even more customised and targeted plans for those with cancer, which has the potential to make cancer treatments effective while reducing side effects. Here are three of the most common types of cancer treatment.
Chemotherapy
Once you have received a diagnosis from your cancer doctor, he or she may recommend chemotherapy. Most people have heard the term “chemotherapy” before, but many lack a firm understanding of what it is.
Chemotherapy is the treatment of using drugs to kill cancerous cells. There are several types of drugs that can be used for this purpose, and they can be delivered orally, intravenously, or topically.
Chemotherapy is most often used to cure cancer outright or to ease cancer symptoms. It is sometimes used on its own but typically in conjunction with other methods. For example, some doctors will prescribe chemotherapy drugs to attempt to shrink a tumour before surgery or to kill cancer cells that linger after surgery or radiation therapy.
Having regular testing can help such as a pap smear screening singapore to get an early diagnosis of cervical cancer.
Radiation Therapy
Radiation therapy uses radiation, or electromagnetic waves, to destroy cancer cells or shrink tumours. Most people have undergone some type of procedure involving radiation, such as x-rays, but radiation therapy relies on much higher doses.
Radiation can damage the DNA of cancer cells, slowly killing them off and preventing their replication and division. This type of therapy doesn’t work as quickly as other methods. It can take weeks for cancer cells’ DNA to sustain enough damage to destroy the cell; however, the cancer cells continue to die off months after radiation treatment ceases.
Radiation therapy can be further broken down into two major categories: external beam and internal. External beam radiation therapy relies on a radiation machine to target and sends radiation to a concentration of cancer cells. Internal radiation therapy comes in the form of a solid or liquid, and it goes inside your body. Some internal radiation therapy methods use a capsule, ribbon, or pellet placed near a tumour.
Hormone Therapy
Some types of cancer react to hormones by mutating and growing, and hormone therapy seeks to disrupt this process to slow or stop the growth. Some types of hormone therapy prevent the body from producing hormones that contribute to a tumour’s growth, and others change the way a hormone interacts with the rest of the body. Both can be effective at treating cancer and easing some of the symptoms that come along with it.
Hormone therapy is most effective in breast and prostate cancers, as these types of cancer manipulate hormones to grow and spread. New genetic testing technology may help your doctor determine whether your body will safely respond to hormone therapy or if a different method would better treat your cancer.
Some hormone therapy is delivered orally or through an injection. However, some patients may undergo surgery to remove organs that develop hormones, such as ovaries in women and testicles in men.
More Treatments Possible
These are just three of the several types of cancer treatments that now exist, and the future looks bright for new cancer treatments to emerge. These treatments have all gotten much better over the years, providing more targeted treatment with a potential for fewer side effects.
Even still, before starting these treatments, it’s best to speak with your doctor about the side effects that they can all bring, as they range from mild to severe depending upon a number of factors.
Beginning cancer treatment is a difficult time for many, but your medical team will make sure that you don’t have to face it alone.
