Cancer is among the leading cause of death in the world. This is one of those medical conditions caused by cells that grow uncontrollably and spread to various parts of the body. The growth of cancerous cells can occur anywhere in the body. Your body comprises cells, and when the old cells die, new cells grow to take their place. Cancer Treatment – However, when this cycle breaks and in place of new cells, abnormal cells start growing, which gives rise to cancer.
Thanks to technological advancements, various treatment options are available in the medical field. With proper suggestions from a cancer specialist in Gurgaon, you shall be able to recover soon. Chemotherapy may often take around 3 to 6 months. Depending on the type of chemotherapy and the state of your disease, it can take more or less time. It is also divided into cycles, each of which lasts between two and six weeks.
Symptoms of Cancer
Cancer symptoms and signs mainly depend on the affected part of the body. Here are the main symptoms one may experience:
- Lump under the skin
- Fatigue
- Changes in skin colour
- Changes in bladder or bowel habits
- Trouble breathing or persistent cough
- Hoarseness
- Difficulty swallowing
- Eating while discomfort or persistent indigestion
- Persistent joint or muscle pain
- Unexplained bleeding etc.
Schedule a visit with your doctor if you experience any troubling chronic signs or symptoms. Talk to an ovarian, breast, colon or prostate cancer specialist even if you don’t have any symptoms or indications of cancer. But the specialist may inform you about your risk. Find out which cancer screening treatments and tests are suitable for you.
Cancer treatments
When someone gets diagnosed with cancer, their doctor may suggest one or more treatment methods. Most cancer treatment options include chemotherapy, surgery and radiation. Immunotherapy, hormonal therapy, targeted therapy and laser are among the methods of treating cancer. Take a look at the following overview of each of these treatments.
Surgery
Cancer specialists can treat numerous cancer types with the help of surgery. The surgeon removes the tumour and part of the surrounding tissue during the procedure. Surgery also helps to treat adverse effects brought on by a tumour.
Chemotherapy
Drugs used in chemotherapy are those that destroy cancer cells. Cancer patients can take chemotherapy medications orally or intravenously (IV). Doctors usually administer these drugs of various kinds simultaneously or sequentially.
Radiation
Radiation treatment employs x-rays, particles, or radioactive seeds to destroy cancer cells. The body’s regular cells develop and divide more slowly than cancer cells. Radiation treatment harms cancer cells more than healthy cells because it is most destructive to rapidly proliferating cells. This causes cell death in the cancer cells by halting their ability to proliferate and divide.
The categories of radiation therapy are of two types:
- External beam. The most common type of radiation includes the external beam. From outside the body, it directs x-rays or particles at the tumour.
- Internal beam. This type of radiation enters your body. The prostate cancer specialist administers it through IVF to a vein, a liquid or tablet you ingest, or radioactive seeds inserted into or close to the tumour (intravenous or IV).
Targeted Therapies
Taking some medications is essential in targeted therapy to halt the growth and spread of cancer. Compared to previous therapies, it achieves this with less injury to healthy cells.
Standard chemotherapy kills cancer cells as well as some healthy ones. Specific targets (molecules) in cancer cells are the focus of targeted therapy. These targets might affect how the cancer cells develop and survive. The medicine inhibits the cancer cells via these targets, preventing them from increasing.
Targeted therapy medications may work in various ways when injected or taken orally. They may:
- Cause cancer cells to naturally die on their own.
- Stop the mechanism in cancer cells that make them grow and spread.
- Kill the cancerous cells directly.
Immunotherapy
A form of cancer treatment known as immunotherapy depends on the body’s capacity to resist infection (immune system). It employs molecules created by the body or in a lab to boost or target the immune system’s ability to fight cancer. This aids your body’s elimination of cancerous cells.
Immunotherapy works by:
- Preventing cancer from spreading to other body areas.
- Decreasing the development of cancer cells.
- Enhancing the immune system’s capacity to eliminate cancer cells.
These medications target and destroy specific regions of a cancer cell. Some of them have radioactive or toxic materials attached to them. The cancer specialist in Gurgaon administers immunotherapy via IV.
Hormonal Therapy
With hormone treatment, one can treat breast, prostate, and ovarian cancers driven by hormones. Medicines or surgery block or stops the body’s natural hormones. This aids in slowing the development of cancer cells. The ovaries or testes are the two organs that the doctors remove during the procedure. You can take the medications orally or via injection.
If your doctor recently informed you that you have cancer, they could suggest some forms of treatment. The type of cancer you have and the extent of its spread throughout your body determine the best course of therapy for you. The doctor will consider your age and any additional health issues you might have when making a treatment recommendation.
The stage of cancer you are in will help to determine the course of treatment. The goal of certain treatments is to eradicate cancer. Sometimes the objective is to halt cancer’s spread. You may receive therapies to ease discomfort and lessen other treatments’ consequences.
Palliative care can be helpful at any point in your cancer therapy. The course of your therapy may alter over time. Each person will receive a different response to this query because of the wide range of cancer therapies. Find out from your healthcare professional when you may expect to feel better.
Making the correct treatment choice for you might be challenging. Discuss the therapies with your oncologist based on the kind and stage of your cancer. Your doctor may go through each treatment’s advantages, disadvantages, and side effects.
