Staging systems for cancer have evolved. They will continue to change as scientists learn more about cancer. Some staging systems cover many types of cancer; others focus on a certain type of cancer like leukemia,, lymphoma (in lymph nodes), or
melanoma. Staging systems give doctors a common language to describe the size and spread of cancers. It is also helpful when comparing research studies and determining standardized treatment guidelines for hospitals and clinics.
TREATMENTS
some cases, people believed to be at high risk of breast cancer have the operation as a preventative measure. ● Chemotherapy : The word ”chemotherapy” refers to the use of any drug to treat any disease. To most people, the word means drugs used for cancer treatment. Chemotherapy is an aggressive form of chemical drug therapy meant to destroy rapidly growing cells in the body. It is usually used to treat cancer, as cancer cells grow and divide faster than other cells. It is important to know that not all medicines and drugs to treat cancer work the same way. It used to be that the only kind of drug could treat cancer was traditional or standard chemo, but now there are many kinds of drugs used to treat cancer. While traditional or standard chemo is still the best way to treat many cancers, different kinds of drugs may work better for others. Chemo is considered a systematic treatment because the drug travels throughout the body and can kill cancer cells that have spread (metastasized) to parts of the body far away from the original tumor. This makes it different from treatments like surgery and radiation,Treatments like these are called local treatments because they affect one part of the body. There are three main goals for chemotherapy in cancer treatment: cure, control, and palliation. Patients with terminal diseases usually need palliation. It is a kind of care that makes you feel better, even if it cannot cure you. Radiation therapy in high doses kills cancer cells right away. It takes days or weeks of treatment before DNA is damaged enough for cancer cells to die. Then, cancer cells keep dying for weeks or months after radiation therapy ends. Therefore, the frequency of treatments is key. Rounds of radiation treatments are given, and they must be done daily with a break on the weekends, so the tissue has some time to recover. On average, treatments can last anywhere from three to nine weeks. Again, every individual is different. There are different types of radiation therapy: external beam, internal beam, brachytherapy, and the newest form, which is called proton therapy.
Receiving a cancer diagnosis is an incredibly stressful event for any person. There is so much uncertainty around the disease and its treatments, and it can be overwhelming for a newly diagnosed patient. Different treatment options may help save a cancer patient’s life, but they may also leave them with devastating side effects in major parts of the body, such as the heart, lungs, and brain. Patients are given a few days to make choices that will affect their lives and bodies forever. Even though cancer has been taking lives for decades and billions have been donated for the cure, the world of modern medicine still has a long way to go when it comes to cancer drugs and treatments. In my personal experience as a stage 3 breast cancer survivor, I can attest to the overwhelming nature of choosing the right treatment option. I needed to extend my hormone therapy (medicine taken to prevent cancer in cancer patients after treatments are over), and I was told there were only five or six different drugs available, each with more devastating side effects than the last. There are many different types of treatments to aid a patient in their battle with cancer and many types of cancer, but the three most common are surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Read the following list to gain an insight into these and other common treatment options: ● Chemotherapy port surgery : A surgery done before a patient has chemotherapy. The port is a device that is implanted under the skin and is attached to a catheter that is guided into a large vein above the heart. It is used so patient veins do not have to be accessed with every treatment. It can be removed as soon as treatments end. ● Lumpectomy : A surgical removal of a discrete portion, or “lump” of breast tissue, usually in the treatment of a malignant tumor or breast cancer. ● Tumor removal surgery: Removes malignant tumors anywhere in the body. ● Mastectomy : The medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, either partially or completely. A mastectomy is usually carried out to treat breast cancer. In Radiation therapy: A closer look I was one of the first patients in the Midwestern area of the United States to have proton therapy for breast cancer. There was only a limited amount of the proton radiation therapy machines and centers in existence at that time- 27 in the United States to be exact. Patients would drive in from different states for this type of radiation therapy. I was chosen to take part in a clinical trial because it is such a new method. It is an extremely expensive treatment not covered by insurance companies. My cancer was located on my left side with three tumors all near my heart and too high risk for normal external beam radiation. My doctors explained how important radiation was for my treatment plan, given that the chemo didn’t work as they had hoped. First, the radiation doctor or radiologist sets up an appointment to take a mold of your body. Then you are marked and fitted with a mold by technicians which will be used for all your treatments. This is done so the machine hits at exactly the right place on the body every time. These molds are made for both radiation and proton therapy. The type of radiation therapy that you may have depends on many factors, including the type of cancer, the size of the tumor, the tumor’s location in the body, how close the tumor is to normal tissue, your general health, your medical history, whether you will have other types of cancer treatments, and age.
Note . https://dallas.culturemap.com/news/innovation/05-15-13-new- cancer-treatment-texas-center- for-proton-therapy-Irving/#slide=0
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