Cancer+treatment

1.Older women receive less treatment than younger women but there are not major differences in treatment among major racial and ethnic groups.
 * Breast Cancer**

1. Chemotherapy for colorectal cancer is a rapidly evolving field. Emerging treatments include chemotherapy regimens that incorporate irinotecan and/or oxaliplatin agents that interfere with DNA synthesis during cancer cell division and, more recently, anti-angiogenesis agents. These newer drugs result in better outcomes for many colorectal cancer patients but they also are much more expensive than earlier treatments.
 * Colon Cancer**

treatment for cancer will be determined by your doctor based on: Immunotherapy/ biological therapy
 * The studies also show that older individuals and members of racial-ethnic minority groups are less likely to receive these treatments*
 * How is cancer treated:**
 * overall health and medical history
 * extent of the disease - type, grade, stage, and location
 * your ability of tolerance for specific medications, procedures, or therapies
 * What are the FOUR goals of Treatment?**
 * Successful treatment. (you no longer have cancer)
 * Prevention (so the cancer won't spread or even develop)
 * Prolonged life ( to help you live longer)
 * palliation ( targets the symptoms of cancer such as pain. it enhances the quality of your life. It is not used to long gate life.
 * What are the standard types of Cancer Treatment?** (these are the primary ways of treating cancer)
 * Surgery
 * Radiation Therapy
 * Chemotherapy
 * Hormone Therapy

http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/uvahealth/adult_gyneonc/treathub.cfm
 * Surgery**:
 * oldest form of treatment
 * Surgery is used for several purposes
 * Preventive: To remove tissue that does not yet contain cancer cells but has the ability to becoming cancerous.
 * Diagnostic: To remove samples of tissue from a suspicious area for testing. To conform diagnosis, identify the type of cancer, or to determine the stage of the cancer.
 * Curative: to remove or destroy cancerous tissue. This may cause tissue around the tumor to be removed.
 * Surgery is also used for:
 * Palliative purposes: to relieve discomfort
 * Supportive purposes: a placement of a device that will help with the delivery of medication
 * restorative or reconstructive purposes: To repair or replace damaged or destroyed areas of the body.
 * **Radiation Therapy**:
 * Uses special kids of energy waves to fight cancer
 * Before the radiation process begins, the patient have to go through a simulation process which maps out exactly how the radiation treatment will be given. (making molds, maps...) Then the patient goes through a treatment plan which determine the type of machine to use, the amount of radiation that is needed and the number of treatments that eil be given.
 * 2 methods of receiving Radiation therapy:
 * External Radiation: A large machine that points the energy waves directly at the tumor. The therapist controls the machine. Special shields may be made to protect the surrounding tissue. The treatments are painless and last a few minutes.
 * Internal Radiation: A high dose of radiation is given inside the body as close to the cancer as possible. This treatment may be swallowed, injected or implanted directly into the tumor.
 * **Chemotherapy**:
 * an anticancer drug to treat cancerous cells
 * works by interfering with the cancer cell's ability to grow or reproduce
 * different drugs work in different ways to fight cancer cells
 * can me given as a pill to swallow, injected into the muscles or fat tissue, intravenously (directly to the bloodstream, IV), Topically ( applied to the skin), or directly into a body cavity
 * there are 50 commonly used Chemotherapy drugs.
 * Hormone Therapy:**
 * Chemically produced by glands
 * help some types of cancer cells grow, such as breast cancer and prostate cancer but hormones can also kill cancer cells, make cancer cells grow more slowly or stop them from growing.
 * This treatment involves taking medications that interfere with the activity of the hormone or stop the production of the hormones.
 * may involve surgically removing a gland that is producing the hormones
 * patients take a hormone receptor test to measure the amount of proteins are in the cancer tissue.
 * If the test indicated that the hormones are affecting the cancer, the cancer may be treaded by treating cancer cells to keep them from receiving the hormones they need to grow, treating the glands that produce hormones to keep then from making hormones, or surgery to remove the glads that produce the hormones
 * The hormone therapy is given either before some cancer treatments or after other cancer treatments. If given before other treatments, its to help kil the cancer cells If given after other treatments, its to improve the chance of a cure.
 * Who gets treatment?**
 * It all depends. There is no set answer, but it mainly depends on the type and size of the tumor, the age of the person, the presence of the tumor and many other factors. It is all based on that one person. We can't put a label on Cancer treatment as a whole because it differs from one person to the next.
 * Any new and Promising treatments on the horizon?**
 * "New brachytherapy devices that can be inserted during breast cancer surgery or shortly afterward could make lumpectomy more feasible for women who cannot commit to a six-week course of daily external beam radiation."
 * Even if there are new and "promising" treatments many patients stick with the standard types of treatment because the doctors know much more about them.