According to Mayo Clinic statistics, cancer is the second leading cause of death. Cure rates and treatment options vary depending on where the cancer began, if it has spread to other parts of the body and a person's prior medical history. The National Cancer Institute, a sub-organization of the National Institute of Health is the world's leading cancer research institute. NCI seeks to find successful cutting-edge cancer treatments and improvements to existing cancer treatments. Through research trials, the NCI aims to one day cure cancer completely.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is one of the NCI's main cancer treatment recommendations. Administered orally, through an injection or via topical cream, chemotherapy relies on a variety of drugs to attack the cancer cells in your body and destroy them. Depending on how far your cancer has progressed, chemotherapy may cure the cancer outright, slow the cancer's advancement through your body or in late-stage cancer or control cancer symptoms (known as palliative care). Chemotherapy is often used in conjunction with other cancer treatment methods.
As chemotherapy often produces extremely unpleasant side effects such as intense nausea, hair loss and bleeding, doctors work hard to find an ideal balance between the drugs' effectiveness and your everyday comfort and safety. Sometimes your doctor may have to adjust chemotherapy dosage, medication type or how it is administered. In general, chemotherapy lasts until your cancer disappears and for some time after that so you don't experience relapse. The NCI also recommends chemotherapy cycles (perhaps two weeks of treatment, followed by two weeks of rest) for certain patients and cancer types.
Radiation
Another NCI-recommended treatment is radiation therapy. During radiation therapy, ionized rays are aimed at the cancer cells in your body. The rays destroy cancer cells in an effort to shrink the tumor. Radiation treatment is mostly used to control and hopefully cure solid (tumor-based) forms of cancer such as breast, prostate and lung cancers. Depending on the location of your cancer, you may receive external radiation therapy or internal radiation therapy whereby the radiation-delivering device is inserted deep into your body. During another type of radiation therapy known as systemic radiation you will take medication that contains radioactive materials. Injected or administered orally, systemic radiation is most often used for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and thyroid cancer.
Because radiation exposes the patient to many potentially harmful radioactive materials, doctors must exercise caution so that they do not make a patient "radioactive." NCI's continued radiation research has ensured that the only portion of your body that will become radioactive is the tumor region itself.
Surgery
For certain types of cancer, the NCI recommends surgery as a vital step to recovery. Surgical procedures will remove tumors and cancer cells from your body. In the process, your doctor may remove parts of organs. For instance, part of your colon may have to be removed if you have colon cancer. Often patients who receive surgery will also receive chemotherapy and/or radiation to ensure that all the cancer cells are accounted for and to prevent future relapse.
Not all surgical procedures require the surgeon to perform major open-body operations. The NCI suggests a type of procedure known as cryosurgery for some types of cancer. Cryosurgery uses liquid nitrogen to destroy cancer cells and prevent additional cell division. External cancers and certain early-stage internal cancers, such as some forms of bone cancer and prostate cancer, benefit most from cryosurgery. The NCI is currently conducting many additional trials to see if cryosurgery will work effectively on other cancers such as breast or kidney cancer.
Biological Therapy
Biological therapy is a new weapon in the NCI's cancer fight. This emerging set of therapies works to change your body's natural response to cancer cells. Biological therapies include potential vaccines (for cancers such as breast and lung cancer) and biological response modifiers. The goal with biological therapies is to use your body's immune system to recognize and fight cancer cells. Currently, biological therapies are used most often to manage side effects of more prominent cancer treatments such as chemotherapy.
Research Therapies
Every day the NCI attempts to discover more effective cancer-treatment methods and ways to improve upon existing methods. One such experimental therapy is called gene therapy. Researchers believe that many types of cancer are due to damaged genes or perhaps missing genes. During gene therapy, healthy genetic material (DNA and RNA) is reintroduced into the body to replace damaged genes. Other genetic treatment research focuses on using genes to improve the effectiveness of existing cancer treatment methods and stimulating the body's immune system to fight the cancer on its own.
Additional research/experimental therapies advocated by the NCI include angiogenesis therapy (inhibitors used to prevent the spread of new cancerous blood cells), hyperthermia treatment (high heat used to destroy cancer cells) and photodynamic (the use of medicine and light to destroy cancer cells).
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