Topic: Treatment

The initial treatment used to target tumours.

A treatment that adds a new gene or replaces/repairs a mutated (changed) gene inside the body’s cells to help prevent or treat certain diseases, such as cancer. Gene therapy may also be used to train the body’s immune system to recognise and attack cancer cells or to protect healthy cells from the effects of cancer […]

A substance that slows or stops the growth of cells, including cancer cells, without killing them. These agents may cause tumours to stop growing and spreading without causing them to shrink in size.

A cancer treatment that uses drugs to kill cancer cells or slow their growth. Chemotherapy may be given alone or in combination with other treatments. There are many different types of chemotherapy/chemotherapeutic drugs, these include: Alkylating agents: damage cell DNA to prevent cancer cells from dividing Antimetabolites: prevent cancer cells from making or utilising the […]

Treatments that are used in conjunction with conventional treatment. They might improve general health, wellbeing and quality of life, and help people cope with side effects of conventional cancer treatment.

Adjuvant therapy is extra treatment given after the main treatment, such as surgery, to help lower the risk of cancer coming back. Even if the visible tumour is removed, tiny cancer cells might still be hiding in the body – and adjuvant therapy helps to find and destroy them. See neo-adjuvant therapy.