According to cancer research, about 60% of humans in the world develop cancer in their life. Some of the cancer cells can grow and metastasize until upset normal bodily functions. It becomes one of the most frequent causes of human death. Different types of cancer might induce varies of death rate. Usually, lung and pancreatic cancer are the worst! These two kinds of cancer will cause the death within a year. However, not all cancers are untreatable. There are 5 common ways to treat cancer. Often, the objective of treatment is to cure the cancer. In other cases, the goal is to control the cancer disease or to reduce the symptoms. Because treatment for cancer can also damage healthy cells and tissues, it often causes side effects.
5 Common Ways to Treat Cancer
1) Surgery
Surgery is one of the cancer treatment methods that remove cancer by operation. This is the most common way to treat cancer. It is very rare that the cancer will spread the disease during the surgery. The cancer does not cause disease to be spread by exposing to the air.
Side effects:
a) Terrible pain
b) Tired and weak
2) Radiotherapy
Radiotherapy is a treatment that uses a radiation ray to kill cancer cells in a infected area. It can be done externally by a machine that aims the radiation at the targeted area. I can also be done internally by using needles, seeds, wires, and so on. The advantage of this treatment method is painless. Some people afraid that the external radiotherapy will cause the body become radioactive. In fact, there is no such thing happen. However, a patient treated with internal radiation may need to stay in the hospital and quarantine from others until the permanent implant goes down to a safe level.
Side effects:
a) Feel very tired in the later weeks of treatment
b) Radiotherapy kills most of the white blood cells that protecting the body against infection.
c) Hair loss in treated area
d) Skin become red, dry, tender, and itchy
3) Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is a method that uses the drugs to kill cancer cells throughout the body. However, the healthy cells can also be harmed. The doctor may use one drug or a combination of drugs to fully control the cancer cells from spreading. The body will start to produce the normal cell after the chemotherapy is over.
Side effects:
a) Hair loss
b) Temporary fatigue
c) Poor appetite, nausea and vomiting
4) Hormone therapy
Hormone therapy is a method that treats certain cancers with forbidding certain hormone from growth. This may include the use of drugs to stop the production of some hormones. Some hormone therapies even have to remove the hormone producing organ to stop the body from secreting the hormone anymore. For example, sometimes, we have to remove the ovary to treat the breast cancer. In some of the cases, the side effects of hormone therapy may be temporary or permanent.
Side effect:
a) Tired
b) Have fluid retention
c) Weight gain
d) Bone loss in premenopausal women
5) Biological therapy
Biological therapy is a method that uses our body immune system to fight the disease or to reduce the side effects of cancer treatment, directly or indirectly. This is the most suggested way to treat the cancer.
Side effects:
a) Cause flu-like symptoms
b) Bleed or bruise easily
The treatment of cancer may be only a method or a combination of methods. The best option is depending to the type and location of the cancer diseases. If the disease has spread to other parts of body, the combination methods might be used. Other factors are depending to the patient’s age, general health and so on. Patients may worry whether the side effects of treatment will become worse than the disease or not. Thus, patients and doctors will discuss the treatment options regarding the benefits of the treatment method and the risks of side effects.
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Regardless of methods, cancer is an expensive disease. I think doctors and scientists should focus on keeping the costs down. They have to find ways to make each method more effective, so that cancer is cured once and for all.
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Cancer is an expensive disease. I love this statement. While we pursuing our dream in the competitive life, we always forgot to take good care of our body. Then we need to spend a lot of money to regain the health later on.
Is it true that aspartame and diet drinks can cause cancer? I have heard such mixed emotions on this and im not sure who to believe.
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Hi Gary! Nice to meet you here! I’m not sure whether these two stuffs can cause cancer or not. I think you may refer to the doctor about this. I’m sorry!
What about laser thereapy? Laser therapy uses high-intensity light to treat cancer. Lasers can be used to shrink or destroy tumors. Lasers are most commonly used to treat superficial cancers (cancers on the surface of the body or the lining of internal organs).
Laser Therapy is a good way to treat cancer too. Thanks for your point here!
Whilst this is not a pleasant topic, I must state this article was well prepared and easy to read for the layman. I have just finished reading an article on the costs of treatments and the increased psychological damage this disease can have on the family of the patient, not due to the illness but due to loss of income and costs of medication. Funding should be massive for scientists to continue to find solutions for eradicating this disease.
Hi Radon! Welcome back! Yes, you are right! There are many works need to be done in order to find more ways to treat cancer as well as cancer prevention. The scientists really need funding to complete such works.
Fortunately the methods of treating cancer and the survival rates of people who suffer with cancer is on the increase all the time at the moment.
The problem is a lack of funding to further research. Which in itself is crazy, Cancer research teams should have greater government funding ideally to hopefully make death from cancer a thing of the past. Especially since its such a high statistically probability of people potentially getting cancer.
Thanks for sharing this information on current methods of treatment for cancer.
Yes, you are right! The problem is a lack of funding to further research. However, one thing we still can de. We can take good care of our body. Live healthy to avoid from cancer.
The way you wrote this was AWESOME! most times i just find boring long paragraphs of what i am trying to find, but this made my looking sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much easier!
Thanks Rachel! I hope that you really like to read my articles.
What a fascinating article, there can’t be anyone out there that doesn’t worry about getting cancer of one sort or another, its quite frightening. It is so good to know there are people likeKok Siong out there, working hard at reserarching and trying to find cures. In the future, many of us will owe out lives to people like him.
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