An Introduction to Cancer Treatments

The treatment given for cancer is variable and dependent on a number of factors including the type, location and amount of disease and the health status of the patient. Most treatments are designed to either directly kill/remove the cancer cells or to lead to their eventual death by depriving them of signals needed for cell division. Other treatments work by stimulating the body's own defenses against the cancer cells.

The treatments may be divided into different categories based on their goal and mode of action. Often the different types of treatment are used in combination, either simultaneously or sequentially. The following sections describe some of the most common forms of cancer treatment. The actual types of treatment and the order in which they are used are decisions made by the physician and patient.

The major types of treatment and their objective are described briefly below.  Details about the treatments are found in their respective sections.

• Surgery: Often the first line of treatment for many solid tumors. In cases in which the cancer is detected at an early stage, surgery may be sufficient to cure the patient by removing all cancerous cells. Benign growths may also be removed by surgery.⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾
• Radiation: May be used in conjunction with surgery and/or drug treatments. The goal of radiation is to kill the cancer cells directly by damaging them with high energy beams.⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾
• Chemotherapy: A term used for a wide array of drugs used to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy drugs work by damaging the dividing cancer cells and preventing further reproduction.⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾
• Hormonal Treatments: These drugs are designed to prevent cancer cell growth by preventing the cells from receiving signals necessary for their continued growth and division.⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾
• Targeted Therapy: This class of drugs is relatively new in the treatment of cancer. They work by targeting specific proteins and processes that are limited primarily to cancer cells or that are much more prevalent in cancer cells. Inhibition of these processes prevents cancer cell growth and division.⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾
• Antibodies: This treatment involves the use of antibodies to target cancer cells. While antibodies are naturally occurring proteins in our bodies, the antibodies used in the treatment of cancer have been manufactured for use as drugs. The antibodies may work by several different mechanisms, either depriving the cancer cells of necessary signals or causing the direct death of the cells.⁽¹⁾Because of their specificity, antibodies may be thought of as a type of specific inhibitor.
• Biological Response Modifiers: These treatments involve the use of naturally occurring, normal proteins that stimulate the body's own defenses against cancer.
• Vaccines: The purpose of cancer vaccines is to stimulate the body's defenses against cancer. Vaccines usually contain proteins found on or produced by cancer cells. By administering these proteins, the treatment aims to increase the response of the body against the cancer cells.⁽¹⁾
• Complementary and Alternative Medicines: These treatment methods are not practiced by conventional western medicine. They can include herbal, animal derived, and mind-body approaches to treating cancer.⁽¹⁾The scientific evidence about the efficacy of these treatments either refutes cancer fighting claims or is inconclusive at the present time.

To find information on a particular cancer drug or treatment, you may search the site using the search tool at the top of the page and proceed directly to the most relevant pages for the treatment of interest.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for approving drugs that can be used by oncologists to treat cancer and also evaluates drugs or other products that may be able to reduce the risk of cancer.

Visit an FDA Office of Oncology Products page to see a list of drugs tha have been approved recently.  The drugs approvals are listed by date and you can view more information about any approved item.

http://www.cancerquest.org