Millions of people die from cancer every year, all around the world. It is one of the most common causes of death. However, it is the complications involved in the disease and the effect it has on the body that kills, not the disease itself. Cancer treatments can sometimes lie at the cause of death, due to their attack on the immune system. There are, like with all illnesses, risks involved in the treatment process. This leaves patients in a 'Catch-22' as without treatment your condition will deteriorate, but the treatment may leave your body vulnerable.
An operation to remove the cancerous cells is the fist stage in the treatment process, so long as the cancer is detained in an organ or specific area of the body. Surgery is therefore the most promising type of treatment for a cancer which has been caught in the early stages. The operation will likely be followed up with other treatments, taken as a precaution. However, operating becomes more complex when the cancer has spread or is at risk of spreading. Even though an operation would remove the root cancer cells, once the cells have multiplied complications are far more likely. There are treatments which, through a specialised method will 'freeze' the cancer and stop it from spreading any further.
Depending on how early the cancer is diagnosed, the second stage of treatment is often chemotherapy. Chemotherapy acts by killing cells that divide rapidly which is the one of the main properties of cancerous cells. Chemotherapy kills all cells that divide and therefore also attacks healthy cells, most commonly in the bone marrow, hair and stomach. With a long or repeated course of chemotherapy, each individual cancer cell will have been targeted to stop the division of cells or the contamination of the healthy cells. This does however leave the healthy cells unable to redevelop, and they may eventually die. Chemotherapy is administered either orally or it is injected. The level prescribed will depend upon the severity of the cancer and the patients well being. When the body rejects the chemotherapy, the patient has to make regular visits to the hospital to be injected.
Radiotherapy is another type of cancer treatment. Radiotherapy has two uses; firstly it can be used to control the malignant cells by shrinking the cancer down with subatomic particles as part of the recovery process and secondly it can be used as a part of palliative care, to control the disease and buy time for patients and their families. The success of radiotherapy is dependent upon the patients pain threshold at the time of treatment. Patients rarely give up because of the cancer itself, instead due to the difficulties and the repercussions of the treatment on the immune system and the body itself.
There are many other cancer treatments available and the number of treatments continues to grow as medical professionals the world over try and fight this disease. None of the treatments are effortless or simple. The treatment takes its toll on every aspect of the patients life. The best course of action is to live a healthy lifestyle and prevent the disease as best as we can.