Treatments

Cancer treatment varies from surgery, bone marrow transplants, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, and biological therapy. Depending on various factors, such as the stage, location, and type of cancer, a doctor may utilize one method or a combination of methods to treat the patient. Often, certain treatments for cancer can damage or affect surrounding healthy cells or tissues, resulting in side effects; however, doctors will advise and suggest patients on proper treatments depending on their situation.

One type of cancer treatment is surgery, which is an operation to remove the cancerous cells or tumor. The size and location of the tumor as well as the patient's current health condition play an important role into the decision to proceed with surgery. Patients may experience pain after surgery; however, this can be relieved with medication. There is a possibility of biopsies or surgeries resulting in the spread of the cancerous cells; however, most surgeons will take the proper precautions to prevent the spread of cancerous cells during surgery.

Bone marrow transplants are procedures that transplant bone marrow from a healthy donor patient to recipient patient whose bone marrow is not functioning properly. Bone marrow transplants are often the result of radiation treatment or chemotherapy. Residing in soft fatty tissue inside bones, bone marrow produce and develop red and white blood cells as well as platelets. Abnormal blood cell production that are hereditary or an acquired disorder can be minimized with a health bone marrow transplant, which would restore the production of red and white blood cells and platelets. Transplants of healthy bone marrow must match the patient's tissue and blood type; otherwise the patient's immune system rejects the transplanted tissues. Most donated bone marrow that are transplanted into the patient are taken from the patient, a living relative, such as a brother or sister, or an unrelated donor that is matched through special blood tests, called HLA tissue typing. Stem cells, precursor blood cells, can be induced to move from the bone marrow to the blood stream with the use of medicine. In preparation for the bone marrow transplant, chemotherapy and radiation therapy are administered to destroy the patient's current cancerous and abnormal cells and alleviate and inhibit the patient's immune response against the transplanted bone marrow.

Radiation therapy (or Radiotherapy) involves emission of high-energy waves to destroy abnormal cells in targeted areas, while normal cells remain unaffected. While radiation can be applied externally by a machine that directs the high-energy waves at the cancerous cells, wires and needles can also apply radiation internally. While radiation treatments are painless, the side effects are temporary, such as a decrease in the number of white blood cells, temporary hair loss, and irritation of skin in the treated area.

Another type of cancer treatment is chemotherapy. Chemotherapy involves the use of "anti-cancer" drugs to destroy cancerous cells throughout the body. With this type of treatment, normal cells are susceptible to the growth of abnormal cells as they are dividing rapidly. These "anti-cancer" drugs halt the growth of the rapidly growing and dividing cancerous cells. As these drugs enter the bloodstream, it comes in contact with the abnormal cells throughout the body. The effects of chemotherapy vary between patients, depending on the dosage, drug, and health condition of the patient.

Hormone therapy is another type of cancer treatment that is dependent on the patient's hormones for production and growth. Hormone therapy hinders cancer cells from acquiring the hormones that it needs for growth. The use of drugs may be implemented in this form of therapy to alter the function or stop the production of certain hormones that enhance the growth of cancerous cells. Surgery can also remove the organs that produce the hormones, such as the removal of ovaries or testicles to treat breast cancer and prostate cancer, respectively.

The direct or indirect use of the body's immune system to fight diseases and minimize the side effects of the cancer treatments is considered as biological therapy.