Oncology Treatments
Treatments
Cancer can be treated by surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy or other methods. The decision of which therapy to use depends upon the location and grade of the tumor and the stage of the disease, as well as the general condition of the patient. In addition to established treatments, several new and experimental cancer treatments are being developed.
The goal of cancer treatment is to remove the cancerous cells without damaging the rest of the body. Each of the main methods of treatment have limitations and risks, however.
Surgery
Intended to physically remove tumors from the body. It is not always possible to fully remove a tumor; when a cancer has metastasized and spread to other sites in the body prior to surgery, a complete surgical removal is generally impossible.
There are several different types of surgery for cancer. These include mastectomy for breast cancer and prostatectomy for prostate cancer. Sometimes, nearly all of a mass of cancerous cells can be removed, but even a single leftover cell can then regrow into a new tumor in a process called recurrence. Since each cell is invisible to the naked eye, it can be often difficult to completely extract an entire cancer mass. A pathologist will examine the removed surgical specimen to determine if a reasonable amount of healthy tissue is present, which would decrease the chance of microscopic cancer cells remaining in the patient.
Besides primary tumor removal, surgery can be used for determining the extent of the disease and whether it has metastasized to regional lymph nodes. Surgery may also occasionally be used to relieve symptoms such as bowel obstruction or spinal cord compression.
Chemotherapy
This is a form of treatment that uses anticancer drugs to destroy cancer cells. It hinders the division of cancer cells, preventing them from forming new ones. Most chemotherapy regimens combine two or more drugs, known as combination chemotherapy, since many drugs perform better together than separately.
Chemotherapy, however, is not specific to cancer cells, and can harm healthy tissues. These cells, though, are generally able to repair themselves after chemotherapy. During treatment, chemotherapy can be very taxing on the body as a whole. Fortunately, chemoprotective agents have been and are still being developed that minimize the side effects of chemotherapy.
At Plaza Medical Center, chemotherapy sessions can be administered as an outpatient procedure on a 24-hour, seven-day a week basis - allowing the patient to minimize time spent in the hospital.
Radiation Therapy
Another method of treatment involves using ionizing radiation to shrink tumors and kill cancer cells. It can be given externally through external beam radiotherapy, or internally through brachytherapy. Radiation therapy affects only the area being treated, destroying cells in the target tissue by damaging their genetic material so that they cannot continue and grow and multiply. Additionally, radiation therapy cuts off blood supply to cancer cells, causing them to die.
Like chemotherapy, radiation therapy damages normal cells as wells as cancer cells, although most normal cells are able to recover from the effects of radiation and function properly thereafter. Radiation therapy’s goal is to damage as many cancer cells as possible, while limiting harm to adjoining healthy tissue.
This treatment can be used with practically every type of solid tumor, including cancer of the brain, breast, cervix, larynx, lung, pancreas, prostate, skin, stomach and uterus, as well as soft tissue sarcomas. Some forms of lymphoma may also be treated with radiation therapy. There are associated side effects that arise from radiation, which may be either temporary or permanent. Radiation and chemotherapy may be given together or one after another.
Other Treatment Methods:
Immunotherapy is a treatment that attempts to use immune mechanisms against tumors. Immunotherapy may be useful for diseases such as melanoma, kidney cancer, lymphoma and myeloma.
Hormonal suppression involves blocking certain hormones to inhibit the growth of some cancers. Estrogen and testosterone are hormones commonly suppressed in this treatment. Hormone therapy is commonly used for breast and prostate cancer.
ONS Certified Nurses
The ONS is the Oncology Nursing Society, a professional organization of more than 32,000 registered nurses and other healthcare providers dedicated to excellence in patient care, education, research, and administration in oncology nursing.
Plaza is proud to include on its nursing staff members of this organization in our ongoing efforts to promote high quality diagnosis and treatment cancer.