Through imaging techniques, doctors can get a detail picture of what is going on without making any incisions. The various imaging techniques include:

X-rays are a type of electromagnetic radiation that helps us get a clear picture of the inside of our body. The dense structures of our body, such as cartilage and bones easily absorb, these electromagnetic rays but lighter substances (for example, blood) do not absorb them. So, any form of abnormal growth or cancer should appear as a shadow on the photograph.

A mammogram is a form of an X-ray and is the basis of screening for breast cancer.

A CT scan or CAT scan takes various X-ray photos from various angles of the body and then compiles them together, through a powerful computer and 3D imaging programs. The slices, showing cross sections of the patient’s body help the doctor to locate exactly where any tumor is.

A CT scan can be a great help in planning radiotherapy or surgery.

MRI or Magnetic Resonance Imaging uses magnetism to form a picture of the inside of your body. The body is exposed to a magnetic force that is 20,000 plus times stronger than the earth’s magnetic field.

The body responds by vibrating slightly to release radio waves, which the scanner captures.

The waves are analyzes to form a picture of the inside of your body. It gives doctors a more detailed view than an X-ray. Therefore, doctors use them for head and brain examination and for measuring blood flow.

Doctors consider various factors like the stage of cancer, your lifestyle, age and endurance levels before starting with any treatment option.

Normally, doctors discuss all possible treatment options and their side effects with you beforehand. This helps you prepare for any eventualities.

Have a frank discussion with your physician before starting with any cancer treatment option. All such treatments are able to increase survival rates of cancer patients.

Cancer, most commonly, causes a total lack of appetite. Bit, you should try to eat normal amounts of the important food groups to support the effects of cancer treatments.

Some cancer treatments may also reduce your appetite. Cancer and its treatments affect your taste buds and you may not find the usual taste in your favorite foods. You may develop new tastes too.

Although there is no restriction on the type of food intake, it is essential to eat proper food; you may drink nutritional supplements to help maintain necessary level of nutrition in your body (consult your doctor first).

In extreme cases, if it is not possible to eat by yourself, doctors will insert feeding tubes to provide you adequate nutrition.

Important cancer treatment options include:

• Surgery

• Chemotherapy

• Radiotherapy

• Hormone therapy

• Gene therapy

• Immunotherapy

• Surgery

For a very long time, surgery was the only treatment option for any type of cancer. It was essential to remove cancerous growth surgically from body. However, with advancement of science, other options are being used in preference where practicable.

Cancer surgery or surgical oncology can bring in successful results for treating cancer of voice box, breast, stomach, and food pipe. This technique involves removing affected part with overlying skin and muscle. One common technique is radical mastectomy. Cancer surgery also involves removal of lymph nodes surrounding the affected organ. This is regional lymphadenectomy. This surgery minimizes recurrence of tumors and cancers of breast, bowel, and stomach.

After surgery, therapies like adjuvant and neo-adjuvant help kill any cancerous cells that could have escaped detection during surgery. Recent advances like MRI, ultrasound, and CT scanning help

surgeons understand size of tumor and spread of disease before start of surgery. Keyhole surgery is helping surgeons to carry out successful operations without making huge incisions.

Doctors suggest chemotherapy and radiotherapy as follow-up treatments after cancer surgery. However, you can start these therapies only after giving sufficient time for your body to heal from cancer surgery.

Chemotherapy involves killing cancerous cells with chemicals that disrupt cell division. Chemicals used in chemotherapy either damage the proteins that help cell division or damage the cancer cells’ DNA itself. Cancerous cells normally multiply very fast and at a higher rate than normal cells. However, certain specific cells in your body like those of hair follicles, immune system and bone marrow cells multiply at a higher rate than other body cells. Chemotherapy drugs may also harm these cells.

So, common side effects of these treatments are hair loss, nausea, and vomiting. Different drugs in chemotherapy have different effects on cancerous cells. Doctors either inject these drugs intravenously or prescribe pills. Doctors use a combination of different chemotherapy drugs for the best treatment.

This treatment involves the use of high-energy rays to kill cancerous growth. These rays destruct cell components and shrink it. Break-up of the cells may lead to formation of free radicals, which might cause further destruction to the inner parts of affected cells.

Radiologists use high-energy gamma rays, from metals like radium, or use special machines that heat metallic elements to produce electrons. Such electrons react with tungsten metal within an electric field and emit similar high-energy rays. Recent advancements in science have been able to develop targeted beams that do not cause harm to neighboring normal tissues.

CT scanning helps radiologists determine exact shape and size of a tumor. This can help to reduce side-effects drastically. A very recent form of radiotherapy involves implanting tiny radioactive metal rods around the tumor. Metals used include iridium and cesium. In addition to being an effective cancer treatment option, radiotherapy may prove beneficial to curb recurrent cancer, shrink cancerous growth before surgery, control cancerous symptoms in advanced stages of cancer and complement chemotherapy cancer treatment too.

Different hormones in your body may aid cancerous growth. Estrogen helps certain types of breast cancer cells to grow rapidly. This type of hormone therapy targets hormone system of your body to help kill cancerous cells and arrest their further growth and spread.

Estrogen-blocker tamoxifen is believed to be one of the most effective, currently available hormone therapy treatments for breast cancer.

Diethylstilboestrol can control some instances of prostate cancer.

Cortisone may be beneficial for leukemia and lymphomas.

Lowering testosterone in the body may help to fight prostate cancer.

Cancer often occurs due to damaged DNA. Gene therapy involves setting right that damage to your genes to help you fight cancer. Renewing your genes may be possible by either blocking cancer-promoting action of certain proteins of damaged DNA or further damaging DNA of cancerous cells so that they soon die off.

Scientists are still researching into various possibilities of the use of gene therapy to help fight cancer.

In some cases, they inject special gene into cancerous cells that make a new enzyme. This can help fight cancerous growth within the cells.

Boosting your immune system can help your body fight against cancer. Immunotherapy functions as a cancer treatment option on this basis. Immunotherapy can be local or systemic.

Local therapy involves injecting vaccine into the affected part.

Systemic therapy targets the body’s entire immune system and helps to control the spread of cancer in any part of the body.

These include laser treatments, cryosurgery and hyperthermia.

This is beneficial in treating liver cancer or tumors. It freezes tumor masses and can kill them.

This is beneficial for treating cancers on the body’s surface or at places which you can reach through an Endoscope.

This involves direct application of heat to the cancer-affected part.