How established treatments may help
How treatments being trialled may help
How alternative treatments may help
How complementary therapies may help
When choosing a cancer treatment, you will be seeking one or more of the following:
Your doctor will tell you if there is a cure for your cancer, or treatment that may slow its process. For over half of all cancers, surgery and/or radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy will kill the cancer cells and stop them from coming back. Although the treatment itself may cause side effects and be upsetting, most people are prepared to put up with this to try to get rid of the cancer.
Sometimes, the doctor won't be able to reassure you that the cancer will be cured. Sometimes, a few cancer cells escape and slowly grow into a new spot of cancer elsewhere in the body. Many people who have established treatment for cancer won't know for several years whether their cancer has gone away. If the cancer has not reappeared (recurred) within five years of treatment, then often you have a high chance of having been cured.
It is possible that there is no cure for your cancer. There may be no effective established treatment and/or the cancer may be advanced when you are diagnosed. There are still established treatments that can help you. Established treatments may be able to reduce the size of the cancer or delay its growth, so that it doesn't affect how your body normally functions. They can also relieve pain and other problems caused by the cancer. This is called 'palliative treatment'. Some people can still have years of high quality life even though their cancer has not been cured.
If you want more information about the treatment your doctor recommends, you can ask for a second opinion from another specialist. Your doctor should not be offended: it is quite normal to want to know that your treatment is the best available.
Your doctor may suggest that you join a clinical trial. This might happen if:
Remember, treatments being trialled are not certain to cure you. They may turn out to be only as effective as the existing treatment for your cancer.
Treatments being trialled often have side effects. These will be explained in the patient information/consent sheet that you will be asked to read and sign before the trial begins. Just because a treatment is new, it does not mean it is better-that is what the trial is trying to find out.
Sometimes, people participating in a clinical trial might receive an inactive or 'placebo' treatment, or be treated to control symptoms. In these cases, no established treatment is required; in other words, you are not missing out on any treatment you should otherwise be having.
Some people with cancer want to experiment with alternative treatments. A questioning approach helps people make their way through the many alternative treatments on offer.
Complementary therapies can help you to cope better with the challenges you face as a person with cancer. Physical therapies like yoga, massage and t'ai chi can help you to feel more relaxed and stronger. Measures like aromatherapy and music therapy will help if these are the sorts of therapies that you enjoy. If you are spiritually inclined, you will find comfort and strength in formal or informal services and rituals related to your beliefs.
September 2004
