Treatments for Cancer

Once a cancer diagnosis has been made your doctor will discuss what treatment is best for you. This will depend on:

• The type of cancer you have
  
  
• The grade of cancer (how far the cancer has developed - how much difference there is between your normal cells and the cancer cells)
  
  
• The stage (if the cancer has spread from the original site)
  
  
• Your general health
  
  
• Your wishes

The aim of treatment may be to:

• Cure the cancer
  
  
• Relieve symptoms caused by the tumour (called palliative treatment)
  
  
• Improve survival (give you a longer life than if the cancer wasn't treated, by putting the disease into remission)

The treatment used is decided on an individual basis taking all these things into account. This is why people with the same cancer sometimes get different treatment, and why some people are cured and some are not. Treatment options should be fully discussed with you, including likely side effects and benefits of treatment.

A lot of people with cancer worry that if they go to the Christie Hospital for treatment it means their cancer must be worse. This is not true. Many of the teams at Central Manchester work closely with the doctors at the Christie Hospital. This means that some people go to the Christie Hospital for treatment, not because their cancer is worse, but because that is where the doctors are based. All patients needing radiotherapy go to the Christie Hospital. This is because that is where the radiotherapy machines are.

The three main types of treatment for cancer are:

• Surgery
  
  
• Chemotherapy
  
  
• Radiotherapy

Other new treatments are being developed all the time, and there may be the opportunity to take part in a clinical trial, where new treatment is tested.

Surgery back to top of page
If the tumour is contained within one place surgery may be possible to remove all or most of it. Surgery alone may be enough to cure a cancer. This will depend on:

• Whether the cancer can be completely removed
  
  
• Whether a border of healthy tissue, with no cancer cells, is removed with the cancer
  
  
• Whether the cancer has spread before the surgery

Radiotherapy or chemotherapy may be given before surgery to help shrink the tumour. This can make the tumour easier to remove and is called neo-adjuvant treatment.

With some cancers the lymphatic vessels and lymph nodes in the area of the cancer will also be removed. This is because these are the most likely place for cancer cells to have spread.

Sometimes even though tests look clear, cancer cells may have already broken away from the initial (primary) cancer and travelled to another part of the body. These are a form of secondary cancer, called micrometastases. Your doctor may recommend that you have radiotherapy or chemotherapy after your surgery to try and treat any micrometastases This is called adjuvant treatment.

Chemotherapy back top of page
Chemotherapy works by interfering with the growth of cells which grow rapidly. This includes cancer cells. Information about specific chemotherapy may be found by clicking here

Chemotherapy can be given to:

Chemotherapy drugs are chemicals given to kill cancer cells. They are usually given by injection into a vein, or by mouth as a tablet. Bladder cancer may be treated by putting the chemotherapy drugs into the bladder, using a catheter.

Sometimes when the chemotherapy is to be injected, a special tube will be put into a vein. The chemotherapy is then injected through the tube, rather than through the skin. For some cancers chemotherapy may also be given through a small pump.

More than one chemotherapy drug may be used to treat some cancers. This is because different chemotherapy drugs damage cells at different stages in the process of cell division. With more than one type of drug there may be more chance of killing more cells.

Chemotherapy is usually given in cycles. This means that treatment is spread out over time with periods when no treatment is given. This is because chemotherapy affects healthy cells that grow rapidly (like hair cells, blood cells and the cells that line the gut), as well as cancer cells. The periods when no treatment is given gives the body time to recover and means treatment is easier to bear.

After a few cycles the response to the chemotherapy will usually be checked to see if the dose or type of treatment should be changed.

The side effects of chemotherapy will depend on the drugs it contains. Side effects should be explained to you before you start treatment. It is important that you know what side effects you may get from your chemotherapy treatment, and that you tell the doctor about any you have. Treatment is often available to help ease any side effects you may experience, or you may be given extra support to help you cope with the treatment.

For more information about chemotherapy click on:

Cancerbackup information
Cancer Help information
Christie Information

Radiotherapy back to top of page
Radiotherapy uses high energy rays to destroy cancer cells.

It can be given:

• Outside the body by shining rays onto the area affected by cancer.
  
  
• Inside the body by placing radioactive material close to the tumour.

Radiotherapy may be given alone or with other treatment and can be given to:

• Shrink the cancer
  
  
• Control the symptoms
  
  
• Cure the cancer
  
  
• Prepare the body for a bone marrow transplant *

*(please see section on blood cancers for more information)

When radiotherapy is given to control symptoms it is usually given over a short period of time. When radiotherapy is given to cure cancer it may be given at higher doses for longer. This usually means attending the radiotherapy centre every day for a few weeks. Locally, radiotherapy is given at the Christie Hospital. The treatment itself usually lasts 1 to 2 minutes.

Radiotherapy treatment is painless. It can have side effects, which should be explained to you before you start treatment and will depend on the area of the body being treated. They may be early, appearing during or shortly after your treatment, or late, appearing after treatment is completed. Side-effects are usually temporary but a few may be permanent.

It is important that you know what side effects you may get from your treatment, and that you tell your doctor or radiographer about any that you have. Treatment is often available to help ease any side effects you may experience, or you may be given extra support to help you cope with the treatment. You will also be given information about how to care for the skin in the area being treated.

For more information about radiotherapy click on:

Cancerbackup information
Cancer Help UK information
Christie information

There are many other treatments for cancer, for information about other treatments please click here

Clinical Trials back to top of page
Clinical trials are carried out for many reasons. The main aims of clinical trials involving cancer patients may be to try and improve survival, to cure the cancer or to reduce side effects and control symptoms.

Being involved in a clinical trial may be to test out a new treatment, or new ways of giving an existing treatment. It is important that clinical trials are carried out so that treatment can be improved. Before clinical trials involving patients can take place, drugs have to be thoroughly tested in a laboratory.

You may be given the opportunity to take part in a clinical trial if one is available and it is appropriate for you to take part. Whether you take part or not is your choice and you should not feel under any pressure to take part. You should make sure that you fully understand what taking part in the clinical trial involves, including the aim, and these should be fully explained to you before you make up your mind.

Many patients are happy to take part in a clinical trial, but others are not. If you decide not to take part, you will be given the current treatment, which will be worked out for you. Even if you decide to take part at first you can still change your mind at any time.

For more information about clinical trials and what taking part might mean click on:

Cancerbackup information

Cancer Help information

The UK Register of Cancer Trials

Information about clinical trials available for people in the United Kingdom