Essential Question:
How is skin cancer treated?
Cancer is treated with surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation — or sometimes a combination of these treatments. The choice of treatment depends on:
Surgery is the oldest form of treatment for cancer. During surgery, the doctor tries to take out as many cancer cells as possible.
Fact: 3 out of every 5 people with cancer will have an operation to remove it.
Chemotherapy is the use of anti-cancer medicines (drugs) to treat cancer. These medicines are sometimes taken as a pill, but usually are given through a special intravenous line, also called an IV. The medicine flows from the bag into a vein, which puts the medicine into the blood, where it can travel throughout the body and attack cancer cells.
Timeframe: can be given over a number of weeks to months
Radiation therapy uses high-energy waves, such as X-rays to damage and destroy cancer cells. It can cause tumors to shrink and even go away completely.
Fact: Radiation therapy is one of the most common treatments for cancer.