What Are The Different Cancer Treatments And Procedures
Cancer is a deathly disease and a lot of people suffer from it. About 40% of the world’s population is affected by cancer, in one shape or another. Here are some procedures and treatment which help to kill cancer cells.
1. Surgery
One of the most common treatments for cancer are surgeries. Surgery is done to remove the malignant tumors from the surface of your body, muscle or tissues. This can only be deemed successful and suitable if the tumor is large enough to be removed with ease and if the tumor is localized. In surgery, the patient is put under general anesthesia and the tumor is removed, wherever the location is. Afterwards, the doctor usually suggests some sort of therapy to kill the remaining cancer cells in the body.
2. Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is a procedure which is deemed important and necessary after surgery. It is usually done to kill any cancerous cells that might be present in the body, even after surgery. Chemotherapy can be done in a couple of sessions where a medication is inserted into your body via an IV line. This medication is specially designed for killing cancerous cells in the body and in the place where the tumor was present prior to removal.
3. Radiotherapy
Radiotherapy is a more invasive form of therapy, which can also be considered after surgery. If there is no drug which can kill the cancerous cells of the tumor, then radiotherapy is suggested. What mainly happens in radiotherapy is that a radioactive substance emits radiation which penetrates inside the body and helps to kill all types of cancer cells. While this treatment can kill all types of cancer cells, it is considered to be very invasive and dangerous, because there is harmful radiation which can penetrate into your body and the side effects can be detrimental.
Also, radiotherapy is done all over the body and not just targeted to the affected place. Now, there have been modernizations in the process of radiotherapy and it can be targeted to the affected area only.
4. Targeted Therapy
As mentioned above, conventional radiotherapy is not targeted to the affected part of the body where the tumors were present. But now, there has been advancement in the process and targeted therapy has taken over its conventional counterpart. Targeted therapy is a better option than normal radiotherapy because the side effects are localized to one place only.
5. Immunotherapy
As the name suggests, immunotherapy is a type of treatment which makes your immune system stronger to help you fight cancer. This is quite a modern technique and the results are quite promising if your cancer is in its early stages. Your health becomes better and your immune system is strong enough to fight off the deadly disease.
These treatments don’t promise the gift of life, but it is sure to improve the quality of your life by targeting the cancerous cells and tumors.
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