There are quite a lot of cancer treatment options and the course of cancer treatment chosen by your doctor or oncologist will largely depend upon a lot of factors—including the type of cancer, the progression rate, patient age, and any underlying risk factors. Some patients who are diagnosed with cancer may be prescribed just one mode of treatment, while other patients require a more aggressive approach with a combination of treatments to ensure that the cancer cells are eradicated for good and don’t come back.
Cancer treatment can be confusing and scary for many patients, and it can cause a lot of stress both physically and mentally, if you’re not aware how the various treatments work.
So here’s is a list of the most common cancer treatment types and how they work to kill cancer:
- Cancer surgery
Surgery is a procedure by which the affected cancer mass is removed from the body via surgery. There are different types of surgery options—ranging from invasive to non-invasive models—which are prescribed based on your type, size, and progression rate of cancer.
- Radiation therapy
Radiation and chemo are often mentioned in tandem when it comes to cancer treatment. Yet radiotherapy is different from chemotherapy because it employs high doses of radiation targeted directly at cancerous tumors in order to kill the cancer cells. Radiation, however, has quite a few side effects (i.e., skin issues, sore throat, mouth sores, hair loss, heartburn, affected voice box , nausea and vomiting).
- Chemotherapy
Chemo is a very common cancer treatment that enlists powerful drugs to flush out the cancer cells and kill them. Chemotherapy is often used to shrink tumors prior and after surgery.
- Immunotherapy
This type of therapy treatment is effective in helping your immune system to fight against cancer cells. There are 2 broad types of immunotherapies, including activation immunotherapy and suppression immunotherapy.
- Targeted cancer therapy
Targeted cancer therapies employ specifically designed drugs that are apt at attacking the cancerous cells in particular, while not disrupting the functioning of the normal, healthy cells. This therapy blocks the growth, division, and spread of cancerous cells.
- Hormone therapy
This particular type of cancer treatment is effective towards stopping or slowing down the spread of prostate and breast cancers by curbing the growth hormones that fuel the growth and spread of cancer.
- Stem cell transplant
This form of cancer treatment uses stem cells to restore blood-forming cells in the aftermath of exposure to chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
- Precision medicine
This cancer treatment prescribes treatment models based on a study of the patient’s genetic makeup. The drugs used target cancer cells based on their specific DNA composition of the specific type of cancer.
