Question

Mention any four methods involved in the treatment of cancer.

Answer 1

Treatment of Cancer:

It depends upon the type of cancer. There are four types of cancer treatment strategies which are used singly or in combination.

(i) Surgery: The tumour is removed surgically. However, as a malignant tumour has migrating cells, the latter cannot be removed. Therefore, surgical removal of a malignant or cancerous tumour is never completely successful. Certain tumours are, however, not accessible to surgical excision. In some of these lasers, microsurgery has been used successfully.

(ii) Radiation Therapy: Cancer cells are undifferentiated dividing cells. They are more easily damaged by radiations than the other differentiated body cells. Radon (Rn-220), Iodine (1-131) and cobalt (Co-60) are radioisotopes commonly used in radiotherapy. However, some harmful changes do occur to normal tissues around the tumour mass.

(iii) Chemotherapy: It is the use of cytotoxic drugs often along with other types of therapies. The common drugs are cisplatin and fluorouracil, nitrosoureas, vincristine and vinblastin (from Catharanthus roseus in leukaemia), taxol (from Taxus baccata) and tetrathiomolybdate. Cytotoxic drugs, however, have a number of side effects.

(iv) Immunotherapy: It is strengthening of the anticancer immunological defence mechanism of the body because tumour cells avoid detection and destruction by the immune system. For this, the patients are given biological response modifiers such as a-interferon. They activate the immune system which helps in destroying tumour cells. Monoclonal antibodies with attached radioisotopes combine immunotherapy with radiotherapy. Another approach is to develop vaccines against cancers. Bone marrow transplant is used in case of leukaemia.