Medical science advancement gives multiple cancer treatment options.
The doctor is the right person to decide the type of treatment after discussing it with the patient.
In some cases, doctors prefer to order a single treatment, but it can be a combination type of treatment also.
It is always better to know about different types of cancer treatment to avoid confusion.
However, consultation with a doctor gives a detailed understanding of the procedure.
Surgical intervention
Surgical interventions become refined through using targeted medicines and other treatment modalities to improve cancer patient outcomes.
Cancer treatment continues to emerge for better treatment outcomes.
Different research studies are comparing the outcomes of different surgical interventions and their long-term effects.
Thus the findings of these study analyses help clinicians to decide the selection of techniques for specific cancer, stage, and patient condition. Surgical intervention becomes sophisticated with the advancement of medical technology.
Nowadays, some of the advanced surgical interventions like Video-Assisted Surgery, Genetic sequencing during surgery are some of the advanced technology used during cancer surgery to get a more precise result.
Radiotherapy
In cancer treatment, radiation therapy is used for decades.
But targeted radiotherapy is a novel invention that uses for more effective results with minimal side effects.
Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy (SABR) for Metastatic Cancer is an alternative treatment applied when unable to conduct a surgical intervention.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is a group of medicine prescribed for treating cancer to kill cancer cells.
Chemotherapy works against cancer, but it causes side effects.
Moreover, the mode of drug administration also differs depending upon the prescribed chemotherapy.
The doctor will explain every necessary detail with the patient or family members before starting the treatment.
Hormone Therapy
Hormone therapy is another type of cancer treatment recommended to slow down or stop the growth of breast and prostate cancers.
Hormonal imbalance is one of the major reasons for breast and prostate cancer growth.
However, hormone therapy also induces side effects.
Hyperthermia
Hyperthermia is a type of treatment in which heat is generated within body tissue up to 113 °F.
The rising temperature damage and/or kill cancer cells with minimum harm to adjacent healthy tissue.
Hyperthermia may recommend for pancreatic cancer treatment.
However, discussion with a doctor can help to understand the benefits and complications depending upon the patient depending upon the particular patient condition.
Photodynamic therapy
Photodynamic therapy uses a drug activated by light to kill cancer and other abnormal cells growth.
Photodynamic therapy is recommended for a certain type of cancer including the pancreas.
However, detailed knowledge is required about this novel therapy before administering it.
Stem cell transplant
Stem cell transplant is a clinical process for restoring stem cells that grow into blood cells in people.
Often cancer patient destroys healthy stem cells because of high doses of chemotherapy or radiation therapy.
However, stem cell transplant has its adverse effects.
The patient should discuss with the doctor the benefit-risk ratio of the treatment before administration.
Proton therapy
Proton therapy is a type of radiation therapy that is also known as proton beam therapy.
In this therapy, high-energy protons (positively charged particles) are used instead of X-rays to destroy cancer cells.
Proton therapy is a painless therapy in which an external beam is passed from a machine and penetrates inside the skin.
Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy triggers the immune functioning of the body to fight against cancer.
Molecular testing is performed to select the best possible immunotherapy for the individual patient.
Some vaccines like sipuleucel-T got the official approval for prostate cancer.
Some recently discovered immunotherapies are as follows:
- Monoclonal antibodies like Trodelvy for metastatic breast cancer.
- Oncolytic virus therapy like Imlygic for melanoma
- CAR T-cell therapy like CD22 for acute lymphoblastic leukemia relapse
- Cancer vaccines like Provenge for prostate cancer
Targeted Therapy
Targeted therapy is when drugs are bound with specific proteins or genes to restrict cancer cell growth.
Targeted therapy directly attacks cancer cell growth.
Targeted therapies for lung cancer are osimertinib, erlotinib, and gefitinib and for breast cancer targeted therapies are ado-trastuzumab, lapatinib, and everolimus.
Combination Therapies
In certain cases, doctors prefer to use a combination of two forms of cancer therapy in conjunction.
In this treatment approach, a combination of traditional chemotherapy with newer classes of drugs provides better treatment outcomes.
Recently use combination therapy example is Tecentriq and Avastin in the treatment of liver cancer.
