Cancer is a complex group of diseases with many possible causes, treatments, and outcomes. In general, cancer treatment tries to kill or remove cancer cells while doing as little harm as possible to healthy cells. Depending on the type and stage of cancer, different types of treatment may be used alone or in combination.
The most common types of cancer treatment are surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and targeted therapy. Surgery is usually the first step in treating most cancers. It involves removing the tumor along with some surrounding healthy tissue. Radiation therapy uses high-energy beams to kill cancer cells or shrink tumors. Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells or stop their growth. Immunotherapy helps the body’s own immune system fight cancer by boosting immunity or by directly attacking cancer cells. Targeted therapy uses drugs that target specific genes or proteins involved in the growth and spread of cancer cells.
Clinical trials are often needed to find new and better ways to treat cancers that have become resistant to current treatments. Cancer research is constantly finding new ways to diagnose and treat cancers with fewer side effects than older methods.