Lecture notes from Imperial College London, Medical Bioscience BSc, 2nd year, Cancer Biology (CBIO) module.
The main pillars of cancer therapy are surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy and targeted therapy.
How a cancer patient is treated will depend on many factors including tum...
Cancer therapy
- depends on tumour type, location, grade + stage of the disease and general health of the patient
What is cancer therapy?
- purposes: 1) prolong survival time 2) improve quality of life
- goals: 1) cure 2) control 3) palliative care (can’t be cured => alleviate symptoms + improve life qual.)
=> eliminate cancer cells & reduce chance of recurrence
- 5 pillars of cancer treatment
=> most common 1st treatments : surgery (45%) > chemotherapy (28%) > radiotherapy (27%)
- example of treatment:
Key terminology
- adjuvant therapy = treatment given in addition to the primary treatment
- neoadjuvant therapy = treatment given to shrink the tumour before primary treatment
- cancer grade = appearance of tumour compared to original normal cells
- cancer stage = size of tumour & how far it has spread from the original site
- complete remission = treatment has eliminated cancer as measured by medical tests BUT not cure
, - often 1st line of treatment for localised solid tumours/ at an early stage dvlp
=> NOT if systemic cancer (leukaemia, lymphatic cancer), metastasised cancer or near a risky area
- aim: remove the tumour mass/ whole organ (with or without surrounding lymphatic systems)
=> margin of healthy tissue also removed => reduce chance of recurrence
- often used in combination
=> before chemo/ radiotherapy (adjuvant treatment)
=> radiation given before surgery to reduce the tumour size (neoadjuvant treatment)
1) debulking
=> remove as much of the tumour as possible but not all of it
=> better chances of successful chemo- or radiotherapy
=> ex: advanced cancer of the ovary
2) laparoscopic surgery
=> less invasive: a laparoscope inserted into small incisions
=> relays images of the inside of the abdomen/ pelvis
3) radical surgery
=> remove all nerby tissue including lymph nodes, muscles, nerves => lower change of recurrence
=> ex: radical mastectomy removes breast & associated lymph nodes
4) preventive (prophylactic) surgery
=> remove non-cancerous areas of tissue in patients at high risk
=> ex: family history of breast cancer or adenomatous polyposis (large intestine)
- risks:
=> bleeding
=> blood clots
=> damage to nearby tissues, nerves, other organs
=> adverse reactions to drugs
=> pain
=> infections
=> slow recovery of other body functions
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