Topic: Treatment
The use of targeted radiation to kill or damage cancer cells so the tumour shrinks and cells can no longer grow, multiply and spread. The radiation is usually in the form of x-ray beams and is often combined with other treatments, such as chemotherapy or surgery. Also called radiotherapy.
Treatment that affects the whole body, as opposed to localised therapy, which is directed to a specific organ or limited area of the body. An example of systemic therapy is (most types of) chemotherapy, which circulate in the bloodstream and affect the whole body.
T-cell therapy is a type of immunotherapy that makes your immune cells, called T-cells, better able to attack cancer Doctors collect some of your T-cells, grow large numbers of them in a lab, and then give them back to you through a drip in your vein. There are two main types of T-cell transfer therapy: […]
A treatment given before the main treatment to help shrink the tumour and make the main treatment more successful. For example, chemotherapy or radiation therapy given to shrink the tumour before surgery.
A form of medicine that uses information about a person’s genes, proteins, environment, and lifestyle to prevent, diagnose, or treat disease. In cancer, precision medicine uses specific information about a person’s tumour to help make a diagnosis, plan treatment, find out how well treatment is working, or make a prognosis. Precision medicine may also be […]
Treatment that is directed to a specific organ or limited area of the body, as opposed to systemic therapy which affects the whole body. Examples of localised therapy used in cancer include surgery and radiation therapy, amongst others.
A type of treatment that targets specific molecules that cancer cells need to survive and spread. Molecularly targeted therapies work in different ways to treat cancer, there are many example, such as: Interrupting the signals that cause cancer cells to grow and divide stopping angiogenesis, the process that forms blood vessels, which cancer cells need […]
Immune checkpoint modulators are a type of immunotherapy. Immune checkpoint inhibitors are the most common type of immune checkpoint modulators. Immune checkpoints are a normal part of the immune system; their role is to regulate the immune response to ensure it is strong enough to appropriately respond to danger signals but not so strong or […]
A type of treatment that helps the body’s own immune system to fight cancer, and other diseases, more effectively. Immunotherapy can stimulate or suppress the immune system. Some types of immunotherapies only target certain cells of the immune system, e.g. immune checkpoint modulators, others affect the immune system in a general way, e.g. cytokines.
A substance that kills cells, including cancer cells. These agents may stop cancer cells from dividing and growing and may cause tumours to shrink in size.