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Is Chemotherapy Necessary for Cancer Eradication?

Fighting cancer is a tough battle for anyone. Adding chemotherapy treatments to the equation can make it even more daunting, as the side effects are well known for being difficult. Fortunately, there are other options available in the fight against cancer.

  1. Considerations

    • Many factors must be considered when deciding on the best treatment for cancer. Some of these are the age and health of a patient, and the type and stage of the cancer.

    Surgery

    • In certain cases, the cancerous growth or tumor can be removed from the body simply in a surgical operation, such as a lumpectomy or mastectomy for breast cancer, and a prostatectomy in the case of prostate cancer. Depending on the stage of the cancer, chemotherapy might not be necessary.

    Procedures

    • In some cases, a bone marrow transplant can be done, which is the process of transferring stem cells from healthy bone marrow to the patient's bone marrow. Some of these procedures will require the use of chemotherapy, but others can be done exclusively with radiation treatments.

    Alternative Treatments

    • Other treatment types are available such as radiotherapy, cryotherapy, and hyperthermia. Radiotherapy treatments involve killing the cells by exposing them to radiation. Cryotherapy freezes the malignant cells, while hyperthermia is the process of removing the cancerous growth with excessive heat.

    Medical Advances

    • Recent technological developments have resulted in less harmful methods of treating cancer with chemotherapy, such as injecting it into the bloodstream in the form of beads. This treatment gives the patient the same benefits of chemotherapy with far fewer side effects.

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