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How is cancer treated?
Cancer treatment includes drug therapy (also called chemotherapy), radiation therapy, and surgery. The treatment of any given patient can include one or all of these cancer treatment options.
Chemotherapy is the use of cancer drugs to kill cancer cells or tumors. A patient may receive one or more cancer medications. Cancer medication may be the only kind of treatment a patient needs, or it may be combined with other forms of treatment.
The aim of radiation therapy (also called radiotherapy) is to deliver a dose of radiation to a target tumor in order to control, shrink, or kill the tumor cells. Radiation may be used alone, or along with other types of treatment. It can be used to shrink a tumor, relieve pain, or alleviate other problems if a tumor cannot be removed. Radiation therapy comes in two forms: external or internal. Some patients receive both. External radiation comes from a machine that aims the rays at a specific area of the body. Internal radiation (also called implant radiation, interstitial radiation, or brachytherapy), comes from radioactive material that is placed directly into or near the tumor.
Surgery is the surgical removal of the cancerous tissue. Sometimes, as with some mild forms of skin cancer, the surgery is simple and performed in the office. Other times, the surgery will be extensive and might involve the removal of surrounding tissue and lymph nodes. The goal of tumor removal is the same in both cases.
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