PATIENT POPULATION – ANYONE

• Radiation Therapy
• Chemotherapy
• Immunotherapy
• Surgery
• Hormonal Therapy
• Wait and see

Radiation Therapy

• Freestanding units or hospitals
• Use ionizing radiation (deep penetrating)
• Internal radiation therapy
• Localized
• Use seeds implanted into patient
• Remote afterloading
• External radiation therapy
• Use Linear Accelerators (Cobalt 60 old machine)
• Applied from the outside in

Chemotherapy

• Uses poisons to kill cancers
• Usually used as a systemic treatment (the whole body is affected)

Hormone Therapy

• The use of hormones to prevent metastisis (spreading)
• Nolvadex – male hormone
• DES – female hormone

Two Main Goals of TREATMENT :

1. CURATIVE (radical coarse of therapy)
2. PALLIATIVE
• The patient can’t be cured
• Improve the quality of life by relieving pain
• Obstruction caused by tumors
• Bone pain

CURES = 5 years with NED (no evidence of disease)

• Breast cancer – 10 years with NED

Side Effects of TREATMENT :

• Cancer cells and normal (healthy) cells are both hit with radiation
• NVD syndrome (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea)
• Compazine – controls nausea
• Immodium – controls diarrhea
• Side effects usually in the area being treated