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There Have Been Numerous Types Of Treatment Since The First

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There have been numerous types of treatment since the first documentation of cancer. Surgery, chemo-therapy and radiation therapy are the three best-known today. There are also some exciting developments in genome research that may help us treat these diseases in a more efficient way. The oldest effective treatment known to us is surgery, which Ancient Egyptians used for early tumor removal.
Surgical “treatments” are often the first to be considered because resecting, or cutting out a tumor, removes the offending growth immediately. This is helpful if it is blocking an organ or is causing pain and logically it seems to be a reliable method. Unfortunately, it does not always stop cancer from returning. If the mass of malignant cells …show more content…

The three main goals of chemo in cancer are (1) to cure, the disease if possible, (2) to control the spread of the disease or (3) to ease the pain and suffering of a patient with an advanced stage cancer in what is called palliative care. (Cancer.org, 2017) Chemotherapy works by killing any cells in the process of mitosis, which leaves cancer extremely vulnerable due to its rapid division. Unfortunately, chemo affects healthy cells too. The more rapidly dividing cells, like the ones that make up our hair follicles and stomach lining, are severely impacted which is why a lot of patients experience hair loss and nausea. So a big problem with chemotherapy is that many patients will experience nausea, hair loss and other very unpleasant side effects (because of the naturally fast division in parts of the body) and drugs might not work alone. Chemo-therapy is often used in tandem with “radiation”.

Radiation therapy, also known as irradiation or x-ray therapy, uses high-energy particles or waves to destroy cancer cells. Ionizing radiation used in cancer treatment ionizes the atoms, effectively obliterating the cells and DNA so that cells cannot further divide. “Radiation can be given alone or used with other treatments, such as surgery and chemotherapy. In fact, certain drugs are known to be radio-sensitizers. This means

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