How is cancer treated?
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There are several types of cancer treatment. It’s common for a combination of treatments to be used. You may be offered treatment as part of a clinical trial.
Treatments include:
- surgery – an operation to remove the cancer is the main treatment for many types of cancer
- radiotherapy – high energy X-rays are used to destroy the cancer cells
- chemotherapy – uses anti-cancer (cytotoxic) drugs to destroy cancer cells
- hormonal therapy – reduces the level of hormones in the body or blocks hormones from reaching cancer cells
- targeted therapies – destroy cancer cells, usually by interfering with the cancer’s ability to grow
- stem cell or bone marrow treatments – allow high doses of anti-cancer treatment to be given or are used to give the person a new immune system to fight the cancer
You may also be given supportive treatments to treat side effects. Supportive treatments include:
- treatments to treat or reduce the risk of infection
- steroids
- blood transfusions
- bone strengthening treatments
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