What Are the Treatments for Terminal Cancer?

Being diagnosed with cancer is hard enough. However, being diagnosed with terminal cancer is much more difficult for family, friends and the patient to grasp. A diagnosis of terminal cancer inevitably means there is no cure. Therefore, treatment of a patient at this stage simply involves doing things to make him as comfortable as possible and to prolong life as much as possible.

Life Extending Treatments

• Depending on the type of cancer a patient has, the standard treatments of cancer in other stages can be used to try to prolong her life once the cancer is terminal. For example, chemotherapy and radiation can be used to slow down cancer growth. Slowing or stalling the growth of the cancer not only reduces pain, it may also allow the patient to live longer because the cancer remains more contained.

Pain Management

• One of the main issues that people caring for terminally ill cancer patients face is an understanding of the different types of pain associated with terminal cancer. Depending on where the cancer has spread, the patient may have nerve pain, bone pain, soft tissue pain, phantom pain or referred pain. Often, doctors will prescribe morphine to dull the pain. However, there are side effects of using this drug that caregivers and patients need to know. The morphine dulls the pain, but can produce other problems such as addiction and disorientation.

Hormone Therapy

• In some types of terminal cancer, cancer growth is dependent on hormones. For example, both breast cancer and prostate cancer can be hormone dependent. Blocking estrogen and testosterone can help suppress breast cancer and prostate cancer growth, respectively. While these hormone therapies may be effective for a time and can slow the growth of cancer, the National Cancer Institute reports that, usually, the body eventually stops responding to hormone therapy, and the cancer continues to spread.

Hospice Care

• A hospice is a program that provides care for people that are terminally ill and near death. Hospice workers can care for a terminally ill patient in his home, or they may care for the patient in some sort of facility such as a home or hospital. Hospice workers will administer pain medications and provide emotional support. The emotional support includes having staff available to talk with patients and family members about impending death and making a patient comfortable with the idea of death.

Home Care

• Home care can also be provided for the terminally ill patient by their family members. Family members should provide the emotional support, as well as delivering proper medication as prescribed by the team of doctors treating the terminally ill patient. Before providing home care, the family must be prepared psychologically to deal with the impending death of a family member. Additionally, they must be prepared to address the concerns of their loved one and make her feel comfortable, as well. They must also learn to read signs such as when a patient is not responding to pain medication as they should, and when inevitable death is on the horizon.