Cancers

Cancer is a group of diseases characterized by uncontrolled growth and spread of abnormal cells.  There are more than 200 types of cancer, and cancers can be further expanded into different sub-groups by their severity, stage, and the specific cells that are affected by the cancer. When making differentiations on cancers terms such as the stage , acute or metastatic are used. These terms help paint the mosaic of the disease that its cancer, as well as the challenges found in treating their many variations.

Planning cancer treatment can take time and you should talk to your doctor about how long you can expect to wait until treatment starts.  It’s important to learn about all your treatment options to make the decision that is best for your situation.

There are many different approaches for treating cancer, depending on the type of cancer, how advanced it is, what types of treatment are available, and what the goals of treatment are.

Chemotherapy is the use of anti-cancer drugs to destroy cancer cells. Combination therapy is when a number of drugs may be given at the same time. Sometimes only one drug is used. Chemotherapy may be used before or after surgery or radiation therapy, or together with radiation therapy.

Treatment may be given:

orally , or through a needle inserted into a vein, or by introducing drugs directly into an organ or tissue affected by cancer or as a cream.

chemotherapy will usually have several treatment cycles with periods of rest in between to allow normal cells to recover. These can be given over a few days,  weeks or months, and some on a long-term basis. 

smart treatment :

By taking advantage of unique properties of NETs that are not found in healthy cells, researchers will try to target chemotherapy to attack only cancer cells, instead of all cells. Creating novel chemotherapeutic agents that will attack and kill only NET cells, will help reduce the side effects of currently used systemic chemotherapy.

Once a tumor’s mutations are identified through genotyping, should a targeted therapy be available for that mutation, it can be deployed to deactivate the growth pathways, attacking the cancer at its power source. This tailored approach can help slow and even reverse the tumor’s growth with minimal damage to healthy cells.

Immunotherapy :

It is a type of cancer treatment (drug) that uses your body’s own immune system to fight cancer cells. Your immune system fights infections and diseases.

Immunotherapy makes your immune system stronger at fighting cancer cells. Your immune system becomes better at finding and attacking cancer cells. Immunotherapy can continue to fight your cancer even after your treatment ends. This can sometimes lead to long-term control of your cancer.

Your medical oncologist (cancer doctor) will give you advice about what type of medication (drug) is best to treat your cancer.

This depends on many things like the type of cancer, stage of cancer, other treatments you have had, and your overall health.

Radiation therapy is the use of high-energy radiation to damage cancer cells’ DNA and destroy their ability to divide and grow. It may be delivered using machines called linear accelerators or via radioactive sources placed inside the patient on a temporary or permanent basis. Radiation therapy may be used to cure cancer, to relieve a cancer patient’s pain or alleviate other symptoms.

Radiation therapy requires careful planning to ensure the tumor is targeted with the least amount of impact on surrounding tissues.

A patient may receive radiation therapy alone as a treatment or in combination with surgery or chemotherapy.

This will depend upon on the type of cancer being treated.

Gamma Knife:

The Gamma Knife machine uses 201 targeted beams of radiation to destroy tumors with unmatched precision. 

Healthy tissue surrounding tumors is spared. The procedure is so accurate that it is considered to be as good as surgery, or better.

For many conditions, Gamma Knife treatment is the most accurate form of stereotactic radiosurgery available. 

Conditions treated with the Gamma Knife Radiosurgery include(Malignant tumors-Benign tumors-Vascular abnormalities-Functional disorders)

Our multidisciplinary team (including neurosurgeons, radiation oncologists, radiation physicists, neuroradiologists, oncologists, neurologists, and nurses) evaluates each patient to determine whether Gamma Knife treatment is the best option. The patient’s medical history is reviewed, along with imaging studies and information provided by the patient’s physician. If Gamma Knife treatment is not considered appropriate, the team will suggest an alternate treatment option.