General Principles of cancer treatment - In this post blog, we will discuss the general principles regarding the treatments of cancers. In this presentation, we will three matters review; 1) The different goals of cancer treatment, 2) the Three factors that guide management goals; and 3) the Differences in treatment, decision-making, and the treatment for localized versus systemic cancers.
The treatment of cancer has one of two goals: curative and Palliative. Curative treatments are also termed radical and include any treatment for a cure. With respect to curative treatments, treatment may be the primary treatment or treatment may be adjuvant, that is a treatment.
In addition to primary treatment, for example, a patient's primary treatment may be surgery and chemotherapy could be an adjuvant treatment given after, or a treatment may be neoadjuvant and given in advance of the primary treatment. For Example, a patient may have radiation or chemotherapy prior to definitive surgery.
Probably treatments are non-curative and usually aimed at symptom control for improvements in quality of life. In order to make the decision regarding the intent of treatment and the types of treatment offered, we consider three factors: tumor, treatment, and patient factors.
Tumor Factors
Firstly, we consider tumor factors. Every patient will present with a unique tumor that has Specific properties which guide treatment. Tumours are classified pathologically and staged to consistently direct treatment options and recall that tumors can either be localized or systemic. This is a major determinant of treatment intent.
To review localized tumors can be treated curative Lee for many localized tumors treatment will involve surgery or radiation tumors that have spread systemically more often required Treatments that address multiple areas. For many of these tumors, we use chemotherapy.
Treatment Factors
The second group of factors to consider is our treatment factors with so many treatment options. It is the health professional's responsibility to help select the most appropriate option.
Factors such as treatment, availability, and efficacy are commonly considered. Patients must also be involved in the decision-making process to understand the potential adverse events and be informed of all available options.
Patient Factors
Finally, we consider patient factors. All treatment options must be related back to the patient when deciding on a specific treatment. A patient's physical capacity to withstand and recover from the regime is most important. A patient's performance capability can be evaluated using a grading scale developed by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group abbreviated, ECOG.
You can access the ECOG scale in our treatment module Under general oncology principles. Of course, the patient's wishes are paramount in any decision-making. Let's put this together with a real example.
If a 70-year-old patient with metastatic lung cancer was seeing you about their treatment, you may consider the following factors: when coming to a treatment decision. First of all, you would evaluate their tumor if this tumor was metastatic lung cancer. This would be determined that all treatments would be Palliative in nature.
With respect to treatment factors, you would consider how chemotherapy or radiation may provide palliation for this patient. You would have to weigh these with the potential morbidity of these treatments could be.
Finally, with respect to patient factors, you would need to consider the overall performance status of this patient, For instance, would they be well enough to tolerate treatment?.
This concludes our discussion on the general Principles of treating cancer. Thank you.
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