Cancer is a malignancy that needs to get immediate medical treatment. Because if left untreatment, cancer can spread to other organs (metastasis) and is life-threatening. There are many treatment of cancer options tailored to the type, severity, and overall health condition. So, what types and treatment options for cancer can be done?
Treatment of Cancer Types
Treatment is done to treat cancer and ensure that the sufferer can live a normal life. If the cancer is incurable, there are treatments done to inhibit the development of cancer cells and prevent the spread of cancer cells to other organs of the body.
Primary treatment
Primary treatment, aimed at lifting or destroying cancer cells in the body. Many medical treatments are performed on this type of treatment, but most cancer cases are treated with surgery. If the type of cancer experienced is sensitive to chemotherapy and radiation, surgery can be the treatment of cancer main choice.
Adjuvant therapy
Adjuvant therapy, aimed at destroying the remaining cancer cells in primary treatment, thus reducing the likelihood of cancer cells growing back. The treatment consists of chemotherapy, radiation, and hormone therapy.
Palliative care
Palliative care, aims to reduce the side effects of cancer treatment.
This type of treatment consists of surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and hormone therapy.
Treatment of Cancer Options
Of the three types of treatment, here is a treatment of cancer that could be an option.
Surgery (local therapy)
Tumors can be removed directly through surgery, especially at an early stage for some cancers. It is usually considered the most effective way to reduce the number of cancer cells in the body.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to destroy or limit the growth of cancer cells. Often referred to as “chemo”, it is also used to clean the remaining cancer cells in the patient’s body after undergoing surgery or radiation therapy.
When chemotherapy is not performed, cancer cells that have spread to other parts of the body can continue to develop in the patient’s body. This will cause the disease to recur in different parts of the body and often appear as an advanced cancer.
Chemotherapy is also quite detrimental due to many possible side effects, which can affect the quality of life of the patient. These include loss of appetite, nausea, onset of wounds, fatigue, hair loss, diarrhea and nerve damage.
Radiation Therapy (local therapy)
Another local therapy is radiation therapy. Radiotherapy uses ion rays, so that cancer cells can be destroyed. Unfortunately, in this way, it cannot destroy all cancer cells because it follows the ‘log cell kill’ rule, thus killing logarithmically resulting in there always being cancer cells left.
Radiation depth levels are also limited, so for cancers with large sizes of radiation will not be able to be beneficial either. Currently, radiation is developed with special tools such as “linear accelerator” with deep translucent power and less diffuse light, so the radiation area will be more precise.
Immunotherapy
The procedure is performed to help the immune system fight cancer cells. This means stimulating the immune system to stop the growth of cancer cells and provide special substances that serve as artificial immune systems (such as immune proteins).
Types of cancer immunotherapy are monoclonal antibodies, cancer vaccines, and T-cell therapy. Immunotherapy side effects include fever, nausea, vomiting, headache, joint and muscle pain, shortness of breath, and hypotension or hypertension.
Targeted Therapy
A cancer treatment that targets cancer cells using drugs or other substances. This therapy serves to inhibit the growth and spread of cancer cells without damaging the healthy cells that are in the vicinity. This action also has the potential to cause side effects, in the form of diarrhea, impaired liver organs, hypertension, fatigue, dry skin, as well as discoloration of nails and hair.
Hormonal therapy (systemic therapy)
Cancers that are sensitive to hormones such as pros**tate cancer and breast cancer, then if there are positive hormonal receptors can be done hormonal therapy.
The way is to give tablets or anti-hormone injections so that it creates an uncomfortable atmosphere for the growth of cancer cells. Hormonal therapy is commonly administered as adjuvant but in later circumstances, it can be administered palliatively.
Trans Arterial Chemo Embolization (TACE)
It uses chemotherapy as well, but usually chemotherapy drugs are infused into the veins so that it follows the flow throughout the body. By means of this TACE chemotherapy is injected into arterial blood vessels so that the effect occurs locally and the dose can also be reduced.
The downside of this way is that if the arteries are numerous it will be less effective. This method is effective in organs by having few major arteries so that the effect on the organ can be maximized with minimal side effects, such as liver.
Cryosurgery
Cryosurgery uses a tool that can lower the local temperature of the target area so that the cells become damaged. It can be done on large tumors so that it does not require surgery, but with the purpose of palliative so that it is only to shrink the mass of the tumor only and not to heal.
Peritonectomy surgery and HIPEC
Peritonectomy and HIPECPeritoneal cancer is a cancer that afflicts the peritoneum, which is the “outer skin” layer of the organs contained in the abdominal cavity, such as the stomach, colon and rectum, small intestine, liver, spleen, and pancreas. Peritoneal cancer can arise from the peritoneum itself, or when the cancer spreads from the main organ affected by the cancer. This spread, known as metastases, is common in cancers present in the colorectal, stomach, ovarian, or appendicitis areas.
Peritoneal cancer affects up to 25% of people who have advanced gastrointestinal or gynecological (midwifery) cancer, and is often a terminal endpoint in people with Stage 4 cancer.
Peritonectomy (also known as cytorheductive surgery) and Hyperthermal Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy (HIPEC) are a combination of new procedures that have been shown to increase effectiveness in fighting peritoneal cancer. After peritonectomy surgery to remove the tumor contained in the abdomen along with the affected peritoneal layer, a special HIPEC solution is sprayed into the abdominal cavity at a temperature of 42 degrees Celsius for a maximum of 90 minutes (Sugarbaker protocol).
Administering this chemotherapy directly has a greater chance of completely killing all remaining cancer cells on the peritoneal surface.
Peritonectomy and HIPEC can double the average survival rate in suitable patients who have stomach cancer with metastases in the peritoneum. For patients suffering from colorectal cancer that has spread to the peritoneum, up to 30% of patients suitable for HIPEC procedures can survive up to 5 years or even completely recover, which was previously almost impossible.
With a complication rate of less than 10%, it is an accepted procedure worldwide and has appeared to provide improvements in the survival and recovery rates of cancer patients who can undergo this procedure.
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