Cancer treatment
Cancer treatment
Cancer treatment (/ˈkænsər ˈtriːtmənt/) refers to the methods of managing cancer, a group of diseases characterized by the uncontrolled growth and spread of abnormal cells. There are several types of cancer treatment, including surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, hormone therapy, stem cell transplant, and precision medicine. The choice of treatment depends on the type and stage of cancer, possible side effects, and the patient's overall health.
Etymology
The term "cancer" comes from the Latin cancer meaning "crab" or "creeping ulcer." The term "treatment" comes from the Latin tractare meaning "to handle, manage, deal with, conduct oneself towards."
Types of Cancer Treatment
- Surgery: An operation where doctors cut out cancer tissue.
- Radiation therapy: Uses high doses of radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors.
- Chemotherapy: Uses drugs to kill cancer cells.
- Immunotherapy: Helps your immune system fight cancer.
- Targeted therapy: Targets the changes in cancer cells that help them grow, divide, and spread.
- Hormone therapy: Slows or stops the growth of breast and prostate cancers that use hormones to grow.
- Stem cell transplant: Procedure that restores blood-forming stem cells in people who have had theirs destroyed by very high doses of chemotherapy or radiation therapy.
- Precision medicine: An approach that allows doctors to select treatments that are most likely to help patients based on a genetic understanding of their disease.
Related Terms
- Oncology: The study of cancer.
- Tumor: An abnormal mass of tissue that results when cells divide more than they should or do not die when they should.
- Metastasis: The spread of cancer cells from the place where they first formed to another part of the body.
- Carcinoma: A type of cancer that starts in cells that make up the skin or the tissue lining organs.
- Malignant: Cancerous. Malignant cells can invade and destroy nearby tissue and spread to other parts of the body.
External links
- Medical encyclopedia article on Cancer treatment
- Wikipedia's article - Cancer treatment
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