Cancer is a well know fatal condition that without early detection and proper treatment can lead to death. There are different types of treatment and can be categorized as either invasive or non-invasive cancer treatment. Your treatment usually depends on factors such as the location of the cancer tumor, its size, how far has it spread and your general health.
Understanding the type of cancer and the treatment options available can assist you to cope with the condition as well as its side effects. As earlier mentioned, cancer treatment is categorized into two:
- Non-invasive cancer treatment:This type of cancer treatment does not involves incision or surgical procedures of any kind. Treatments here include chemotherapy, radiation therapy and immunotherapy.
- Invasive cancer treatment: Is a medical procedure that involves incision and removal of cancer tumors from the body. This procedure is complex than the non-invasive treatment and common invasive treatment approaches include breast reconstruction, ablation therapy and stem cell transplantation. Although these treatment options can be applied separately, they are often combined depending on how advanced cancer is.
The following discussion is going to look at the different types of non-invasive cancer treatment.
Radiation and Proton Therapy
This cancer treatment option uses high-energy photon or proton beams to kill cancer cells. Radiation therapy can be applied as a standalone treatment or used alongside other therapies where it suppresses tumors before surgery or chemo, or eliminating traces of cancer cells left behind after other treatments. Photons are created from high energy electrons that collide with the metal surface from a linear accelerator. They are then converted into strong rays and delivered to patients through the skin. On the other hand, proton treatment is similar to conventional radiation therapy, but it uses protons instead of photons. Unlike photons which travel into the tumor extending towards the adjacent healthy tissues, protons radiation are very effective in targeting specific cancer cells within the body. These two types of radiation are widely used widely used in breast, prostate or brain cancer treatment.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy, also referred to as chemo is another type of non-invasive cancer treatment that uses medication to destroy cancer tumors. This treatment uses powerful drugs to not only kill cancer cells, but also manage their growth and alleviate pain symptoms. Depending on your type of cancer and the rate in which it advances, you can either use a single drug or combine two or more medications. Likewise, chemotherapy can be administered as a stand-alone treatment or in combination with several other therapies like radiation and surgery. There are four ways in which chemo can be administered to a patient and they include, intravenous, oral chemotherapy, injections or isolated limb perfusion. As with other treatments, chemo has its own side effects but they can be easily managed with drugs or other non-invasive therapies.
Immunotherapy
A treatment option that relies on body’s own defense mechanism to battle cancer. A body is made of different cells, and white blood cells are the primary line of defense when it comes to antibodies attack. Through specially designed drugs, white blood cells can be triggered to identify and destroy cancer cells. Generally, immunotherapy drugs are designed to boost the body’s immune system, however, studies have shown that protein layers on white blood cells serve as a checkpoint, making it difficult for them to kill cancer cells.
In conclusion, all these advanced cancer treatment options are very effective in combating cancer. However, the successfulness of a cancer treatment depends on how early it is detected. Whether you are on proton radiation therapy, chemotherapy or immunotherapy, these noninvasive cancer treatment options give you a fighting chance to live a cancer free life.
