According to the National Cancer Institute, there were more than 11 million cancer survivors in 2006. Since then, the medical community has continued to develop and test new types of treatments and drugs to help fight and cure this disease. However traditional treatments still exist; treatments which are relied on the most to treat and prevent cancer recurrences.
Various Types of Surgery
The American Cancer Society says that surgery is the oldest form of cancer treatment. A wide variety of surgeries exist from diagnostic to palliative. The type of surgery you undergo depends on your condition and is determined by your doctor.
Diagnostic surgery is used to determine the type of cancer you have and how far it may have spread. In some cases when the doctor needs to verify your symptoms as cancer, he will use surgery as a means of diagnosing your condition.
Curative surgery is utilized when the doctor is certain that the tumor is localised and can be completely removed. In some cases, it may the only treatment needed, however in most cases it is used in combination with chemotherapy or radiotherapy to ensure treatment efficacy.
Debulking is another type of surgery used to remove a tumor, however in this instance the doctor often chooses to remove only part of the tumor because complete removal would result in damage to surrounding organs. He then will order additional therapy such as chemotherapy or radiation to remove the remaining tumor.
Palliative surgery is used in cases of advanced cancer. While not an effective means of curing the cancer, it helps relieve the problem causing pain or discomfort, which is the goal of palliative treatment. It is typically used in cases when no other options exist to help control or relieve the pain caused by advanced cancer.
Chemotherapy Treatment
Chemotherapy uses anti-cancer drugs to destroy cancer cells and prevent their growth. Depending on the type of cancer you have and its severity, your doctor may use a combination of drugs throughout your course of treatment.
Because the chemotherapy drugs travel through your bloodstream to reach the cancer cells that have spread, it is often referred to as systemic therapy. While effective, these drugs may damage healthy cells in their path which often results in unpleasant side effects such as nausea, loss of appetite, hair loss, fatigue and weight changes. The side effects you experience depends on the drugs used for your treatment. These side effects typically subside once your treatments end.
Radiotherapy
Radiotherapy delivers measured doses of radiation directly to the site of the cancer cells or tumor. Because the radiation is delivered precisely to the cancer site, the amount of damage done to the healthy cells surrounding it is reduced.
External beam radiation is the most common type of radiotherapy used and is delivered from outside the body using machines called linear accelerators. This type of radiotherapy resembles undergoing an X-ray, and the dose of radiation along with the length of your session is determined by your doctor. Radiotherapy can last over a period of weeks or months.
Internal radiation, or brachytherapy, is typically prescribed for those needing higher doses of radiation than the outer tissues of their body can handle. During this process, radioactive catheters (thin tubes) are placed directly into or near the tumor. The brachytherapy may be permanent, which means the implanted catheters contain rice-sized seeds which release radiation consistently over a period of weeks or months. In the case of temporary brachytherapy, the radioactive source is implanted and left in place for 10 to 20 minutes, before being removed. The dose and number of sessions is determined by your doctor.
Just as with chemotherapy, radiation may cause unpleasant side effects. The side effects you experience typically depend on the area of the body receiving the treatment, however some of the most common include fatigue, a redness or irritation of your skin, nausea, diarrhea and inflammation inside your mouth.
