Medical Advancements And Treatment Of Cancer

Cancer is a serious public health issue worldwide, due to its increasing prevalence. Annually there are more than eight million new cases of cancer in the world, however there has been significant progress in the treatment methods. Of the total cases, around 40% of patients will receive curative benefit from surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, or a combination modality (1). The choice of cancer treatment will depend on its location, extent, relationship with neighboring anatomical structures, involvement of the lymphatic chain and physical condition of the patient.

From surgery to radium exposure to such extremes as radiation therapy, as doctors’ knowledge of the varying types of cancer, and the expansion of medical research regarding cancer has changed, so has the preferred method of treatment. Doctors and researchers dedicated to studying cancer have led to a greater understanding of cancer development; consequently the development of treatments and cures that are more effective, less harmful, have fewer side effects, and in some cases serve to prevent the spread of cancer.

Depending on the time of diagnosis and the particular stage at which the cancer is present in the body, treatment options range from a mastectomy, chemotherapy, or surgery (Haas, 2008). A mastectomy is the surgical removal of the breast, it is an approach often taken to halt the spread of cancer cells to other parts of the body. Chemotherapy is an alternative to a treating the cancer. Chemotherapy for breast cancer is a systemic treatment, which affects most of the cells in your body. Most often chemotherapy is classified as the therapeutic use of chemicals to treat or control a particular disease. Potent drugs are used to kill or hinder the uncontrolled growth of cancer cells by interrupting their DNA, protein production, preventing cell division, starving them of their nutrients or blocking hormone receptors (Stephan, 2010).

When first considering cancer treatment plans, it helps to understand your general options. Types of cancer treatment can be categorized into four modalities: Medical, surgical, radiation, and chemotherapy. Examples of medical options include chemical medicines, immunotherapy, and biological/endocrine therapy. Many surgical options can be minimally invasive and utilize modern technologies to better suit the patient's personalized treatment plan. While you may have heard of radiation and chemotherapy, you may not realize the recent advancements that improve these therapies, creating healthy, successful outcomes every day.

Throughout the years, a diagnosis of cancer has been an uphill battle for both patients and doctors alike. An individual faces an incurable disease that is notorious for taking away lives by the numbers. Victims of the pathogen are at risk of it spreading to other parts of the body, facing an excruciating amount of pain and eventual death. If caught in an early stage the carcinogen can be removed through various treatments. However, throughout the years treatments have been limited to patients which can cause physical, and financial hardships. It is not until the age of biotechnology and more scientific research occurred that immunotherapy became a possible treatment for those in need. Immunology has been in the scientific world since the

Factors that determine how to treat breast cancer are stage and grade of tumor and if it has spread to other tissue in the breast. The sensitivity to hormones of the cancer cells, health of the patient, age of the patient, and preference of the patient. Treatment may include surgery, if surgery is necessary it may be in the form of a lumpectomy, mastectomy (total breast removal), biopsy of sentinel node, dissection of axillary lymph node, and breast reconstruction surgery if a mastectomy has been done. Lumpectomy surgery is the removal of the DCIS area and a margin of healthy tissue that surrounds it. If necessary lymph nodes under the armpit and total breast removal including the nipple and areola may be removed which is known a mastectomy. After this procedure has taken place further treatment may occur such as radiation in the form

This paper will examine the cancer diagnosis and staging process, complications, and side effects of treatments. Methods that can be utilized to assist in lessening the physiological and psychological effects of cancer and treatments will also be explored.

Surgery is often the initial treatment for the cancer. The tumor, a portion of the intestines and lymph nodes are surgically removed and sent to a pathologist for examination. The healthy portion of the intestines are then re-attached. If the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes, chemotherapy is used to kill the remaining cancer cells.

Surgery is used to efficiently remove parts of the body containing cancerous cells. This includes the tumours, normal tissue around the tumour and lymph nodes. If they didn't remove the normal tissue that surrounds the tumour and it contained cancerous cells, then the cancer could redevelop. Chemotherapy is a form of drug therapy that uses either one type or numerous types of chemotherapy drugs combined to slow down the growth of cancer cells and eliminate them. Other types of drug therapy include hormonal therapy, biological therapy and targeted therapy. Radiation therapy focuses high concentrations of radiation onto the area containing cancer cells to damage them. This treatment has daily sessions to repeat the process, the cancer cells don’t heal before the next treatment and they die, while normal cells aren't affected because they are able to repair. Since radiation can permanently damage healthy cells, doctors must use a precise amount of radiation to destroy the cancer cells, but leave normal cells intact.

According to the American Society of Clinical Oncology, in a little over a decade, cancer will become the leading cause of death in the United States. The rate of new cases is expected to increase by 45% by 2030. (Wilson, 2014) Undoubtedly, this comes as no surprise to a populace that has seen an increasing number of their friends and family diagnosed with cancer. It seems to have become an epidemic, affecting both young and old, male and female, and rich and poor. For this reason alone, there is a growing interest in new and more effective treatments in the battle against this disease. Cancer research has vastly improved treatments and outcomes over the previous 50 years, starting with only a handful of treatments half a decade ago, to more than 170 FDA-approved anti-cancer drugs today. (Wilson, 2014) Still, new and better treatments that reduce recovery time and increase success rates are constantly pursued. There is promise for new technology called the iKnife, a cancer “sniffing” surgical scalpel; which is said to identify all of a the cancerous parts of a tumor so that it is removed with 100% accuracy. Should the iKnife prove to be what it is promised to be, not only will it improve overall outcomes for patients, it will also revolutionize the treatment of cancer entirely.

    Cancer is a disease in which cells multiply out of control and gradually build a mass of tissue called a tumor. There has been a large amount of research dedicated to the treatment and cure of cancer. Several types of treatments have been developed. The following are just some of the major examples of cancer therapy: surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, biologic therapy, biorhythms, unconventional treatments, and hyperthermia. Each type of treatment is discussed in detail below.

Chemotherapy and radiation treatments are commonly used as treatment options against cancer; however, one of the negative consequences is the possibility of incomplete tumor removal due to partial tumor penetration. Furthermore, these anticancer treatments lack targeting; chemotherapy and radiation will harm healthy tissue surrounding the cancer site, in addition to targeting malignant tissue. As a result of partial penetration and lack of malignant tissue targeting, the possibility exists that cancer will reoccur within the patient.

To date MSK has twenty-four facilities throughout New York and New Jersey providing a multitude of inpatient and outpatient services associated with the study, diagnosis and treatment of various forms of cancer. The Memorial hospital accommodates 471 beds, a 72,000-square-foot surgical center and state-of-the-art outpatient treatment center (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 2015c). MSK houses more than 35 core facilities with research being conducted in over 120 laboratories. Core facilities are dedicated to the development of scientific technology that aids in the study and treatment of cancer. Additionally Gerstner Sloan Kettering Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Weill Cornell Graduate School of

Many treatments have been found to help breast cancer and there are more being found. The most common treatment is known as chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is a treatment with cancer-killing drugs that is injected into the bloodstream to attack cancer cells (“Chemotherapy”). Although chemotherapy has benefits, it also has side effects such as hair loss, nail changes, mouth sores, loss of appetite or weight changes, nausea and vomiting, and diarrhea. (“Chemotherapy”). These side effects are present during chemotherapy, but are known to stop after chemotherapy is done (“Chemotherapy”, Breast Cancer”). Another common treatment is surgery. One could choose to have a lumpectomy or mastectomy or sometimes even a oncoplastic surgery. A lumpectomy, or partial mastectomy, is a surgery in which the breast is conserved as much as it can be. A lumpectomy is often used in early stages, but when the tumor is larger a mastectomy is used (“What’s New”). Saving the breast is hard to do with a mastectomy, so many doctors combine cancer surgery with plastic surgery (“What’s New”). Cancer surgery and plastic surgery together is known as oncoplastic surgery. (“What’s New”). Some other treatments doctors use are targeted therapy drugs. (“What’s New). Targeted therapies target the gene changes in cancer cells that help cells grow and spread (“What’s New”). These

Several methods such as surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy have been used to treat cancers. The cancer patients who are not helped