How Chemotherapy Works
Chemotherapy – A drug or combination of drugs given intravenously, orally, as an injection or applied to the skin used to stop or slow the growth of cancer cells. Depending on the type of cancer you have and how advanced it is, chemotherapy can cure it, control it or ease the symptoms.
Your doctor will decide which chemotherapy drug or drugs to use based on your general health, type and location of the cancer and your response to the drugs. Chemotherapy drugs are often given with other medications that control side effects.
The Cancer Institute offers chemotherapy at 13 facilities across the state, making it easy for you to access the treatment close to home.
How Immunotherapy Works
Immunotherapy – A type of therapy that helps treat cancer by restoring, boosting or redirecting your body’s immune system to help fight cancer.
How Biotherapy Works
Biological therapy uses living organisms, or a similar substance created in a lab, to stimulate the immune system’s response against cancer cells. This therapy often causes fewer toxic side effects than other treatments.
How Hormone Therapy Works
Hormone therapy – also called hormonal therapy, hormone treatment or endocrine therapy -- slows or stops the growth of cancers that use hormones to grow. It’s also effective in easing cancer symptoms, particularly in men with prostate cancer who cannot have surgery or radiation therapy.
The type of treatment you need depends on the type of cancer you have, whether it has spread and how far, if it uses hormones to grow and if you have other health problems. Some patients with early stage cancer might not require a medical oncologist on their care team. For them, surgery or radiation therapy is sufficient.