How do Doctors Treat Cancer?

There are three common methods for treating cancer: surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. Cancer treatment plans are tailored to each patient because cancer is different in each patient.

A person with cancer may undergo any one of these treatments or a combination of them:

• Surgery removes cancerous tissue. A surgeon removes the cancerous tissue along with a small amount of the healthy tissue surrounding it to make sure that all the cancer is removed and has not spread.
• Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer using medication to destroy malignant
(cancerous) cells. Side effects include nausea, fatigue, hair loss or other side effects. Chemotherapy may destroy some healthy cells in the process of removing of the malignant cells. These healthy cells will eventually start to grow again and the side effects should disappear.
• Radiation or radiotherapy is when high levels of radiation are used to kill cancer cells or to shrink tumors. It is usually painless, but there are side effects including fatigue, 32 nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. Sometimes, the area of skin that has been irradiated becomes inflamed. Most of these side effects are temporary.

An interruption in chemotherapy or radiation treatment can result in a spread of the cancer or a more rapid progression of the disease. It can also increase any pain that the individual was suffering due to the cancer. It is important that your treatments continue as scheduled even in a disaster.