Having cancer can be absolutely terrifying for the patient and the caregivers. A series of disease diagnosis followed by treatment decisions after one another makes it seem such a scary road to tread. However, it is humane to know the nature of the treatment available that will place the patient and his care provider at a good point in making decisions. This book portrays several modes of treating cancer, which include chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and radiation therapy, by a way of surgery.
Surgery
In most of these instances, surgery is actually the foremost line of treatment against cancer. Basically, it involves cutting out, for instance, the tumour and surrounding tissues which usually contain cells. This is basically cut out based on the size, type, and location of the tumour. The number of surgeries could be a few, sometimes open surgeries or laparoscopic surgeries.
Chemotherapy
Otherwise known as “chemo,” is the use of drugs that kill cancer cells or stop their multiplication. The drugs are administered either orally or through an injection to the body. It aims at the destruction of some body cells. With the advance of technology in medicine, the newer targeted therapies focus not only on cancer cells but also on reducing the harm done to surrounding normal cells, hence yielding less side effects.
Immunotherapy
This is a new and revolutionary kind of treatment. It seeks to encourage the body’s human immune system to attack cancer. Immunotherapy differs from standard treatments, which are focused on killing tumour cells; the form of therapy rather mediates enhancement of the natural defence mechanism of the body in recognizing and getting rid of the cancerous cells.
Radiation Therapy
It forms the foundation for the treatment of cancer, where targeted behaviour toward the destruction of cancer cells is given. It uses high-energy rays of radiation that focus exactly onto the tumour so that the tumour is destroyed or removed. Each one involves careful planning by a team of radiation oncologists, medical physicists, and dosimetrists seeking to arrive at the optimum dose and method of delivery while doing a minimum of damage to surrounding healthy tissue.
Types of Radiation Therapy:
External Beam Radiation Therapy (EBRT):
It uses a body machine, for example, a linear accelerator. The beams target the place of the tumour with accuracy; thus, perfect targeting and minimum exposure are made to the surrounding healthy tissues. This may include either intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) or stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). This conformed to the shape of the tumour.
Brachytherapy (Internal Radiation Therapy):
With this treatment method, radioactive sources are implanted into the volume of a tumour or a region of interest. The dose given can thus be very high to the cancerous tissue, sparing a few organs around it. Brachytherapy is particularly beneficial in cancers of the prostate, cervix, or breast, in which the tumour is located near sensitive structures in the body. Depending on precise treatment goals, brachytherapy may be carried out in a temporary or permanent manner.
Radiation therapy still has a leading role in overall cancer management, ensuring the quality of life to be superior while living with the illness. Be it single- or multimodal application, radiation therapy is one of the keystones of modern oncology. For more information on the benefits and applications of radiation therapy, visit https://www.targetingcancer.com.au/.
Supportive Care
Supportive care in cancer management forms a very vital part of the entire process. This, along with medical treatments, needs to be taken as a holistic approach to the physical, emotional, and psychosocial needs of the patient and respective caregivers during their individual cancer journeys. Such services would include pain management, nutritional support, counselling, and even palliative care quality-of-life improvement and/or symptom relief.
Most of the time, navigating the care of cancer is quite a burdensome task. Even with this great information and support, it is up to patients and their loved ones to make sound choices—choices that may lead to the best attainable treatment. The treatment may range from surgery to several kinds of chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or immunotherapy, based on the type and staging of the cancer. All of these when the patients and the people taking care of them left with their heads up high, knowing they were able to avail of the support extended to them by their health care providers and be informed of the new updates for cancer treatment.
