Treatment

Cancer treatment varies widely depending on the type and stage of cancer, as well as the age and medical history of the patient. Treatment may include surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and hormone therapy. 

Most women diagnosed with breast cancer today can be treated in a way that allows them to keep their breasts. Regular screening mammographies are the best way to detect breast cancer early. In choosing a mammography facility, women should make sure it is certified by the Food and Drug Administartion (unless it is a Veterans Health Administration facility). By law, all facilities must be certified. A mammography can detect cancers several years before a women or her health care provider can feel a lump. 

How is cancer treated? 

Cancer treatment can include surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, and biological therapy. The doctor may use one method or a combination of methods, depending on the type and location of the cancer, whether the disease has spread, the patient’s age and general health, and other factors. Because treatment for cancer also damages healthy cells and tissues, it often causes side effects. Some patients may worry that the side effects of treatment are worse than the disease. However, patients and doctors generally discuss the treatment options, weighing the likely benefits of killing cancer cells and the risks of possible side effects. Doctors can suggest ways to reduce or eliminate problems that may occur during and after treatment.

Surgery is a procedure to remove the cancer. The side effects of surgery depend on many factors, including the size and location of the tumor, the type of operation, and the patient’s general health. Patients have some pain after surgery, but this pain can be controlled with medicine. It is also common for patients to feel tired or weak for a while after surgery.

Patients may worry that having a biopsy or other type of surgery for cancer will spread the disease. This is a very rare occurrence because surgeons take special precautions to prevent cancer from spreading during surgery. Exposing cancer to air during surgery does not cause the disease to spread.

Radiation therapy (also called radiotherapy) uses high-energy rays to kill cancer cells in a targeted area. Radiation can be given externally by a machine that aims radiation at the tumor area. It can also be given internally; a small container containing a radioactive substance is implanted near the cancer. Radiation treatments are painless. The side effects are usually temporary, and most can be treated and controlled. Patients are likely to feel very tired, especially in the later weeks of treatment. Radiation therapy may also cause a decrease in the number of white blood cells, which help protect the body against infection. With external radiation, it is also common to have temporary hair loss in the treated area and for the skin to become red, dry, tender, and itchy.

There is no risk of radiation exposure from coming in contact with a patient undergoing external radiation therapy. External radiation does not cause the body to become radioactive. With internal radiation, a patient may need to stay in the hospital away from other people while the radiation is most active. The radioactive substance loses radiation quickly and becomes non-radioactive in a short time. Once the implant is removed, there is no radioactivity in the body.

Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to kill cancer cells throughout the body. The doctor may use one drug or a combination of drugs. Because the drug travels throughout the body, healthy cells are also affected. The side effects of chemotherapy depend mainly on the drugs and the dose the patient receives. Hair loss is a common side effect of chemotherapy; however, not all anticancer drugs cause loss of hair. Anticancer drugs may also cause fatigue, infections, poor appetite, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, or mouth and lip sores. Drugs that prevent or reduce nausea and vomiting can help with some of these side effects. Normal cells usually recover when chemotherapy is over, so most side effects gradually go away after treatment ends.

Hormone therapy is used to treat certain cancers that depend on hormones for their growth. Hormone therapy keeps cancer cells from using the hormone they need to grow. This treatment may include the use of drugs that stop the production of certain hormones or that change the way hormones work. Another type of hormone therapy is surgery to remove organs that make hormones. For example, the ovaries may be removed to treat breast cancer. The testicles may be removed to treat cancer of the prostate.

Hormone therapy can cause a number of side effects. Patients may feel tired, or have fluid retention, weight gain, hot flashes, nausea and vomiting, changes in appetite, and, in some cases, blood clots. Hormone therapy may also cause problems with fertility. Depending on the type of hormone therapy used, these side effects may be temporary, long-lasting, or permanent.

Biological therapy stimulates the body’s immune system to fight disease and can lessen some of the side effects of cancer treatment. Monoclonal antibodies, interferon, interleukin-2, and colony-stimulating factors are some types of biological therapy.

The side effects caused by biological therapy vary with the specific treatment. In general, these treatments tend to cause flu-like symptoms, such as chills, fever, muscle aches, weakness, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Patients also may bleed or bruise easily, get a skin rash, or have swelling. These problems can be severe, but they go away after the treatment stops.

Are clinical trials a treatment option for cancer?

Clinical trials (research studies with people) are an important treatment option for cancer patients. Doctors conduct clinical trials to learn about the effectiveness and side effects of new treatments. Through research, doctors learn new ways to treat cancer that may be more effective than the standard therapy. In some studies, all patients receive the new treatment. In other studies, doctors compare different therapies by giving the new treatment to one group of patients and the standard therapy to another group. Clinical trials follow strict guidelines and have procedures to protect the safety of the people who join the study. Research like this has led to significant advances in the treatment of cancer. People who take part in these studies have the first chance to benefit from treatments that have shown promise. These patients also make an important contribution to medical science.