Just as every cancer patient is different, so is our approach to treating their cancer. Your oncologist will take a number of factors into consideration when determining your specific courses of treatment, such as the type of cancer you have, your age, health and condition, and your ultimate treatment goals (i.e., whether to cure your cancer, relieve cancer symptoms, or halt the spread of your cancer.) He or she may opt for a single treatment path or multiple modalities in order to deliver the most effective treatment.
Such modalities may include chemotherapy, surgery, radiation, hormone therapy, immunotherapy, or targeted therapy.
It is important to keep in mind that while there is no guarantee that your cancer will be cured, your oncology team will do everything reasonably within their power to assist you in your journey through cancer, and will respect your decisions relating to your treatment.
Common Treatment Options & Side Effects
- Chemotherapy
- Chemotherapy utilizes specific drugs or chemical compounds to treat cancer by killing cancerous cells and keep the diseased cells from spreading. There are more than 100 drugs that are currently used in chemotherapy treatments, and they vary based on the goal of the treatments (to shrink tumors, slow cancerous growth or even relieve certain symptoms caused by cancer.) While at times only a single one of these drugs is used to treat a specific type of cancer, it is common for oncologists to use a combination of them in order to achieve the best outcomes.
- Most often, chemotherapy is administered intravenously through a catheter inserted in a patient’s hand or forearm. Depending on the type of therapy being given, this type of administration, called “infusion”, may take a matter of minutes to several hours. Chemotherapy drugs may also be given in other ways, including in the form of a pill or liquid ingested orally, through an injection into the spinal canal (called an intrathecal) or topically, just to name a few.
- The side effects associated with chemotherapy vary in length, type and severity, and every patient’s experience is different. Some of the most common side effects include fatigue, anemia (low red blood count), hair loss, nausea and vomiting, changes in weight and appetite and ease of bruising and infection. Your physician will discuss side effects with you, and our team is ready to answer your questions and provide information and suggestions about how best to handle the effects of this treatment.
- Radiation
- The American Cancer Society estimates that approximately one-half of cancer patients will receive radiation either as a primary or secondary treatment. Those with cancers of the head, neck, bladder and lungs, as well as those with Hodgkin’s disease are likely to receive radiation, which damages cancer cells so that they are no longer able to grow, divide and spread. Multiple sessions may be required before cell growth stops.
- There are three ways radiation therapies are given. External radiation, frequently given as an outpatient procedure, directs rays from a machine outside of the body into a tumor and surrounding tissues. Internal therapy, or brachytherapy, uses an implant placed inside the body to deliver the radiation directly to the cancer cells. This may require an inpatient stay, as does the third radiation therapy, systemic radiation, in which radioactive drugs are injected or ingested into the body.
- Side effects will vary by patient, and may also vary in the time that they take to appear. Some will appear immediately following treatment; others may take days, weeks or longer to appear. The most common include fatigue and changes in your skin (swelling, blisters, redness or dryness). Some hair loss may also occur, and some patients experience diarrhea and/or digestive problems.
- Surgery
- Your physician may utilize surgery to diagnose, treat, prevent and even repair the damage caused by cancer. A biopsy (the taking of a tissue sample) may be completed in order to analyze the sample and determine whether cancer is indeed present, and staging surgery may be done to assess how far the cells have spread. More extensive surgery may be done in order to remove some or all of a tumor as well as tissues which surround it. Physicians may also use surgical procedures to treat pain or problems related to cancer, such as obstructions, or to place ports into veins into which injections can be made or from which blood can be drawn.
- And finally, surgery may also be used to reconstruct or restore the body after cancer treatments.
- The side effects associated with cancer-related surgery are the same as those of other surgeries, and will vary greatly based on the type of surgery done and how extensive it is. Pain or discomfort after surgery is the most common side effect, and careful attention to the site must be given in order to avoid infection or other complications. Some patients may also have some side effects related to anesthesia, such as nausea or fatigue.
- Your surgeon will discuss any procedure with you in detail, and will also advise you of any side effects you may experience or are likely to experience as a result.
- Hormone Therapy
- The estrogen and progesterone naturally produced by the body and circulated through the bloodstream have been found to stimulate cancer growth, particularly those in the breast and prostate. Thus, drugs that block hormone production or alter the way that the body’s natural hormones work have been found to be effective in cancer treatment. In some cases, the hormone producing organs (ovaries and testicles) will need to be surgically removed.
- In women, the side effects of hormone therapy may include those frequently associated with menopause: mood swings, hot flashes, night sweats, nausea and changes in vaginal secretions. Some drugs also cause pain in the joints or muscles, and blood clots and bone thinning may occur in some women. Long-term, the side effects are likely to include infertility.
- In men, side effects may include loss of muscle mass, weight gain, fatigue, hot flashes, anemia, impotence and reduced sexual desire.
- Only certain types of cancer have been shown to be responsive to hormone therapies, and your oncologist would review the likelihood of effectiveness with you, as well as any side effects you may experience.
- Immunotherapy
- The body’s immune system, or natural defense system, protects us from disease. It has also been found to assist us in recovering from disease. Immunotherapy, which is also referred to as biological therapy or biotherapy, boosts the immune system’s ability to identify and fight against cancer cells. There are two types of immunotherapy: active, which stimulates the body’s own system, and passive, which utilizes created antibodies.
- Immunotherapy is not new to cancer treatment, but is not as common as chemotherapy or radiation. FDA-approved immunotherapies include interferon, interleukin, monoclonal antibodies, cytokines and vaccines.
- Targeted Therapy
- Targeted therapies focus on cancer cells, blocking their growth and preventing them from spreading into healthy tissue. They work by interrupting or otherwise altering the way that individual cells grow and divide. The benefit of targeted therapy, which may be used on its own or in combination with other treatments, is that it minimizes the damage that other treatments cause to healthy cells.
- Types of targeted therapies include the use of enzyme-inhibitors, monoclonal antibodies, cancer vaccines, gene therapy or cytokines.
- Your oncologist will help you determine whether targeted therapy is an appropriate treatment option, and will discuss any side effects you may experience.
