Oncology Hospital :: Treatment

New drugs

Chemotherapy remains the mainstay of therapy for advanced cancers and tumours at high risk of relapsing, however we have more efficacious and better tolerated cytotoxic. In a very short period of time, several signal transduction, cell cycle, monoclonal antibodies and antiangiogenic drugs have been approved for use in combination with citotoxics.

 

TREATMENTS

Chemotherapy
Immunotherapy
Gene Therapy
Radiation
Surgery

CHEMOTHERAPY

Chemotherapy uses powerful drugs that produce dead cancer cells by a toxic effect to DNA, the cell replication system and induces apoptosis (dead cell). For that reason chemotherapy is called cytotoxic.

It is used with the intention to kill cancer cells, control their growth, or relieve pain symptoms.

Chemotherapy may involve one drug, or a combination of two or more drugs, depending on the type of cancer and its rate of progression.

Chemotherapy can be used in combination with other treatments such as surgery or radiation, to make sure all cancer cells have been eliminated.

Back to top

IMMUNOTHERAPY

There are new treatments that use the body's own natural defenses to fight cancer. Immunotherapy, also known as biotherapy or biological response modifiers, works on white blood cells - the body's first line of defense against disease. White blood cells can be stimulated in various ways to boost the body's immune response to cancer, with little or no effect on healthy tissue.

Immunotherapy can also be used to lessen the side effects of other cancer treatments.
Side effects of immuno-therapies can vary but most exhibit similar symptoms, including fatigue, a rash or swelling at the injection site and flu-like symptoms i.e. nausea, diarrhoea and fever.

Different general types of biological response modifiers can be used alone or in combination with each other or they can be used in addition to other cancer treatments.

Back to top

GENETIC

The potential benefits of gene therapy are twofold:
Gene-based treatments can attack existing cancer at the molecular level, eliminating the need for drugs, radiation or surgery.
Identifying cancer susceptible genes in individuals or families can play a major role in preventing the disease before it occurs.

Back to top

RADIOTHERAPYY

This treatment uses large doses of high-energy beams or particles to destroy cancer cells in a specifically targeted area. Radiation damages the internal chemical structure of cancer cells, which keeps them from multiplying.

Radiotherapy is most commonly used on localised solid tumours, and on cancers that affect the bloodstream. 

Over 50% of cancer patients will undergo radiation therapy; for some, it will be the only cancer treatment they require. Radiation is often used in combination with other treatments. Used before or during other procedures, radiation shrinks the tumour to make surgery or chemotherapy more effective. Used afterward, it destroys any cancer cells that might remain.

Back to top

SURGERY

Surgical excision of an identified primary tumour probably saves the life of a quarter of lung cancer and half of breast cancer patients.

Back to top