Cancer treatments explained – from chemotherapy to radiotherapy and surgery
THERE are more than 200 different types of cancer, and each is diagnosed and treated in a particular way.
From the more common forms like bowel and breast to the rarer melanoma and brain tumours, there are numerous medications and therapies available.
Because everybody is different and people’s cancers are caught at different stages, there is no one size fits all.
It’s also common for patients to be offered a combination of treatments to provide the best chance of survival.
According to the NHS, there are six main ways of treating cancer.
1. Surgery
Many forms of cancer require surgery to remove the diseased tissue from the body.
This is common, but it isn’t available for all types.
Leukaemia and lymphoma, for example, have often spread throughout the body and an operation won’t get rid of all of it, according to Cancer Research UK (CRUK).
Surgery can also be used to diagnose someone with cancer and reduce a person’s risk of getting a particular type.
There are many different ways of doing cancer surgery, but it can include:
- Open surgery (a large incision through the skin)
- Keyhole or laparoscopic surgery (several small cuts through the skin and a laparoscope to look inside the body and remove tissue)
- Robotic surgery (a robotic machine to help with keyhole surgery)
- Endoscopic surgery (a tube through the mouth or rectum to remove or destroy tissue)
2. Radiotherapy
Almost half of all cancer patients will have radiotherapy as part of their treatment plan.
It involves high energy radiation, usually X-rays, to destroy cancer cells and can be carried out from both outside and inside the body, CRUK says.
Radiotherapy can be very successful but it does come with some side effects, including tiredness and sore, red skin.
3. Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is another way to kill cancer cells – using cytotoxic drugs.
It circulates throughout the body in the bloodstream so it can treat cancer cells almost anywhere.
It can be given as a main treatment, or after other treatments to shrink a cancer before surgery or radiotherapy, or to reduce the risk of the cancer coming back.
It is usually administered by IV, injection or tablets.
Chemotherapy works well for testicular cancer and Hodgkin lymphoma, according to CRUK.
Many people with breast or bowel cancer have chemotherapy after surgery to help lower the chances of it returning.
There are more than 100 different chemotherapy drugs, each with various potential side effects.
Generally, this includes hair loss, breathlessness, pale skin, diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting, dry skin and memory changes.
4. Hormonal therapy
Hormonal therapies, sometimes called endocrine therapies, are commonly used to treat breast, womb and prostate cancer.
They are usually given as tablets or injections and work by altering the production or activity of particular hormones in the body.
This can slow down or stop the growth of cancer.
Patients taking hormonal therapy sometimes feel more tired than normal and experience hot flushes, vaginal bleeding, hair thinning, weight gain and headaches.
5. Targeted therapy
Targeted therapies, sometimes known as biological therapies, can be used to stimulate the immune system.
They can help control the growth of cancer cells and overcome the side effects of treatment.
There are several types of targeted treatment:
- Monoclonal antibodies
- Cancer growth blockers
- Drugs that block cancer blood vessel growth
- PARP inhibitors
They are most often used for advanced melanoma and some forms of leukaemia, CRUK says.
6. Stem cell or bone marrow treatments
Stem cells are blood cells at their earliest stage of development, while bone marrow is a spongy material inside the bones.
Both can be used to help treat cancer in some patients, including those with lymphoma, myeloma and leukaemia.
You have them with high dose chemotherapy and sometimes radiotherapy.