About Cnacer : - Cancer Treatment

Cancer Treatment

Fighting cancer is similar to going to war with a country. One must use different fighting strategies, different weapons and powerful ammunition. Following is a list of weapons currently available for the war against cancer. Each one of the following is also referred to as a Modality or Discipline. At all times, we should use state-of-the-art technology and science and the best methods at our disposal to fight the enemy.

A multi-modality approach is the use of one or more of the above weapons to fight cancer. For example, a patient with breast cancer initially will undergo surgery to remove the tumor, followed by chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

To insure a successful outcome, one has to know the enemy very well, its weaknesses, strengths, its potential to damage us, its way of resisting our attacks. We must be prepared for counterattack with backup plans. We must understand our ammunition and its potential to destroy the enemy, as well as possible backfire and side effects to the patient. At the same time, we must be prepared to deal with the backfire by using medicines and remedies available to us.

Treatment of cancer may be moderate or very sophisticated and complex. It is best managed by a team of capable and qualified physicians. A breast cancer patient should preferably be seen by a surgeon, medical oncologist, radiation oncologist and a plastic surgeon prior to treatment. A treatment plan must then be initiated by each member of the team. Different strategies must be discussed and explained with input from the patient to direct the course of treatment.

This is very difficult for the patient. Imagine a woman just diagnosed with breast cancer. Her anxiety and depression levels are very high at the onset; therefore, this is a critical period for a group effort to treat her problem. In the best case scenario, the first physician who sees her will arrange for all the necessary care. However, this is not true for every patient. Some patients suffer from the inefficiencies of our healthcare system and receive less than adequate care.

• Surgery
  
  Chemotherapy
  
  Radiation Therapy
  
  Hormonal Therapy
  
  Immunotherapy
  
  Bone Marrow Transplantation
  
  Experimental Treatments
  
  Pain Management
  
  Palliative Treatments
  
  Alternative Treatments
  
  Hospice
  
  
  
  
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