Cancer is not a germ or bacteria that infects the body. It’s the replication of abnormal cells within the body that attack and destabilizes surrounding cells, just like the process of rotting. Experts believe the tendency for cancer to kill comes from the impairment it causes within otherwise healthy cells. It’s not restricted to a single cell type. Cancer can happen in any cell of the body.
Even though science has come a long way, cancer treatments have limitations because cell mutation and spread need to be controlled from the onset. An effective treatment to attack rapidly replicating cancerous cells in the body is chemotherapy.
Systemic Cancer Treatments: Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is a type of systemic cancer treatment. Drugs administered through chemotherapy are injected into the body leading to the entire body being affected by chemo drugs. A con of chemotherapy is that it impacts all cells regardless of their health. As a result, healthy dividing cells are attacked too. This is a major reason why hair loss and balding are common chemo side effects.
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Other types of systemic cancer treatments include:
Hormone Therapy
Hormones are gland secretions distributed throughout the body to regulate its functions. But what if an abnormal cell uses these hormones to spread within the body? This can be especially fatal for end-stage cancers.
Hormone therapy works to stop and inhibit the growth of cancer cells that grow through hormones. You will also come across the word “endocrine therapy” for the said treatment.
Immunotherapy
Your immune system is well-equipped to ward off infections and other body-disabling mutations. Immunotherapy is based on strengthening the immune system to fight diseases. Immunotherapy may not be effective against cancer cells that avoid disruption through stealth.
Most systemic treatments are based on how advanced the cancer type is and how worse the symptoms are. Systemic therapies work wonders for cancers diagnosed at an early stage.
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