Cancer Care Treatment
Treatment
When choosing a health care provider it is important to look for those that put patients first and have years of experience treating all kinds of cancer. Recognizing that cancer is a complex group of diseases, our oncology program promotes prospective, multidisciplinary treatment planning – consultation among surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, diagnostic radiologists, pathologists and other cancer specialists – some of the most experienced and knowledgeable physicians in their field.
Through weekly cancer conferences and twice weekly multidisciplinary rounds, Sarasota Memorial’s cancer care specialists work together to provide a comprehensive and personalized plan of care based upon the needs and requirements of your specific form of cancer.
Your team will fight your cancer on many fronts, often combining medical, nutritional, physical and psychological therapies. Combining clinical research, leading edge therapy and compassionate care, Sarasota Memorial’s cancer care team ensures our patients receive the best treatment available.
Following are some of the advanced services offered:
- Chemoembolization
- Laparoscopic Prostatectomy
- Radioactive iodine therapy & Nuclear Medicine scans
- Prostate radioactive seed implant therapy
- Brachytherapy, or internal radiation therapy
- Photodynamic Therapy & Xillix, for early detection and treatment of lung cancer
- Hormone Therapy
Sarasota Memorial’s cancer specialists employ a number of new and revolutionary therapies for certain kinds of cancer, among them:
- Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) – The use of ultraviolet light to treat early stage lung cancer and esophageal cancer.
- Xillix – An innovative endoscopic device that has improved early stage lung cancer detection by more than 171 percent.
- Radiofrequency (RF) Ablation – A minimally invasive therapy that uses heat to destroy tumors; ideal for lung and liver cancer patients who have too many lesions for surgical removal or who are poor surgical candidates because of other existing medical conditions.
- Chemoembolization – For patients who need a “double-punch” of chemotherapy directly to a tumor.
- Immunotherapy – Also known as biotherapy, employs the body’s own natural defenses to fight cancer
Surgery
One of the most common forms of cancer treatment, surgery is an important tool in both diagnosis and treatment.
Before deciding upon a course of action, your physician may order a biopsy of your tumor. The procedure may be done as an inpatient or outpatient procedure, and may involve removal of a piece of tumor by a needle or incision, or if the tumor is confined to a specific area, removal of the entire tumor.
Tissue from the biopsy is sent to a pathologist – a specially trained physician with advanced diagnostic technology – who studies it and performs a series of tests to identify the type of cancer so that a precise treatment can be developed to best treat a specific cancer.
If some tumor cells remain after surgery, additional treatment with chemotherapy or radiation may be recommended.
Radiation
More than half of cancer patients will undergo radiation therapy. For some, it will be the only cancer treatment they need; for others, it may be used before, during or after other procedures to shrink the tumor to make surgery or chemo-therapy more effective or destroy any cancer cells that might remain. Sometimes it can be used to relieve pain, headaches, bleeding or other complications of cancer.
If your doctor determines that radiation therapy should be a part of your treatment plan, you will be scheduled for a consultation with a radiation oncologist, a physician who specializes in radiation therapy.
With advanced computer technology, the field of radiation therapy has become highly technical and the delivery of treatments extremely precise.
There are two basic types of radiation therapy:
- External Beam Radiation, which uses specialized machines to administer high doses of radiation directly to the cancer site and to a small amount of healthy tissue at the margins of the tumor. This type of radiation is provided by Sarasota Memorial staff physicians at specialty radiation oncology centers.
- Internal Radiation, also known as brachytherapy, which involves radioactive material implanted in the body at the cancer site. Radiation implants are small tubes, seeds or capsules filled with different types of radioactive material. Sometimes, implants are used at a tumor site after its removal to kill any lingering cancer cells.
Because radiation cannot tell the difference between healthy cells and cancer cells, it is very important to stay on the radiation schedule prescribed by your doctor. Small doses are usually administered over a longer period of time to continue killing cancer cells while giving health tissue a chance to rebuild.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy continues to hold a vital place in the treatment of cancer. Currently, there are more than 50 different anti-cancer drugs used to destroy cancer cells. Some are given on their own, while others work better in combinations.
Anti-cancer drugs are usually administered by vein (IV), orally (pills or liquids) or by injection. As the drugs are carried in the blood, they reach cancer cells all over the body. Healthy cells can repair the damage caused by chemotherapy, but cancer cells eventually die.
Depending upon the types of drugs involved and your physician’s recommendation, chemotherapy may be administered in the hospital, in our Day Treatment Center or in your physician’s office.
It is very important to stay on the chemotherapy schedule prescribed by your doctor.
Chemotherapy has to be carefully planned so that it destroys more and more cancer cells during the course of treatment, but not the normal cells and tissues. It often involves periods of rest and monitoring of blood work to ensure that your body remains as strong as possible while undergoing treatment. |
