Cancer Prevention : Live longer despite cancer

In some cancers, radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy may achieve similar results as surgery

How can cancer get treated? Cancer can be treated by surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, monoclonal antibody therapy or other methods. The choice of therapy depends upon the location and grade of the tumour and the stage of the disease, as well as the general state of the patient (performance status). A number of experimental cancer treatments are also under development. Complete removal of the cancer without damage to the rest of the body is the goal of treatment. Many a times this can be accomplished by surgery, but the propensity of cancers to harm adjacent tissue or to spread to other parts sometimes limits its effectiveness. Therefore chemotherapy and/or radiation might have to be given to increase the cure rates and prevent recurrences of various cancers. In some cancers, radiotherapy in combination with chemotherapy might achieve similar cure rates as surgery.

Because "cancer" refers to a class of diseases, it is unlikely that there will ever be a single "cure for cancer" any more than there will be a single treatment for all infectious diseases. Angiogenesis inhibitors were once thought to have potential as a "silver bullet" treatment applicable to many types of cancer, but this has not been the case in practice.A Due to the latest targeted therapies and supportive therapies in place the quality of life of patients has been improved phenomenally in the past few years. We look forward to have more such therapies and techniques in the coming days as the research in this area is on a very fast pace .

What are the outcomes of treatment? With the advent of many latest therapies and drugs cancer treatment outcomes have improved drastically; the key to better outcomes is early detection which can be achieved through implementation of regular screening .A A number of cancers can be considered curable. Many early breast cancers, early colon cancers and early cervix cancers can be cured; often with surgery alone, sometimes with surgery and other treatments. Statistics show that cancer patients are living longer and even "beating" the disease. The death rate from the dreaded disease has steadily decreased in the last few decades.

In the l940s, only one patient in four survived on the average. By the l960s, that figure was up to one in three, and now has reached 50% survival. Not only are those stricken surviving, but they are experiencing a better quality of life while under treatment. Surgery is less radical, chemotherapy is producing fewer side effects, and radiation is becoming more focused .

Hopefully we will continue to make even greater strides!

(The doctor is A MS (Gen), DNB (Surg), Mch (Surg, Onco), FRCS (Edin) Diploma in lap Surg (France) Chief Surgical Oncologist Vamsy1964@gmail.comA 9848011421)