How cancer is treated

Today, there are more options than ever when it comes to treating cancer. Find out the basics of each treatment so you and your doctor can work together to decide the right option for you.

What factors impact cancer treatment?

Many things can influence which treatments your doctor recommends and how well they may work, such as your:

Cancer type, stage, and location
Age
Overall health

In addition, things like distance from treatment centers, socioeconomic status, and other barriers are important to consider and have the potential to delay treatment. There may be resources to help you address some of these challenges. Talk with your doctor about your personal situation and any concerns about your treatment.

What is cancer staging?

Cancer staging describes the amount of a cancer in the body and where it’s located. Your doctor might use staging to explain how serious your cancer is, and to know which treatments might be appropriate for you. The stage of cancer may be described as “early-stage” or “late stage.”

Early-stage

Early-stage cancer may not have spread to other parts of the body

Late-stage

Late-stage cancer has spread to lymph nodes or other parts of the body

Types of cancer treatments

There are more cancer treatments today than ever before thanks to ongoing research and medical advances. Cancer treatment can involve different types of treatments, such as:

Surgery for cancer is a procedure in which a surgeon removes cancer from your body. Depending on the type of cancer and its stage, surgery may be used to remove the entire tumor, remove part of the tumor, or remove as much of the tumor as possible to help ease symptoms caused by cancer. In many cases, treatment before or after surgery may also be used to help treat the cancer.

There are many types of surgery, including open surgery or minimally invasive surgery:

Open surgery is when the surgeon makes one large cut to remove the tumor or organ, some surrounding tissue, and maybe nearby lymph nodes
Minimally invasive surgery is when the surgeon makes a few small cuts instead of one large one. A long, thin tube with a tiny camera (laparoscope) is inserted and projects images from the inside of the body onto a monitor. This allows the surgeon to see inside the body to remove the tumor

Learn more about your options when considering cancer surgery.

Radiation therapy (also called radiotherapy) is a cancer treatment that uses high doses of radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Radiation therapy can be used to treat cancer and can be used along with other treatments to kill cancer cells. Radiation therapy may be focused at specific parts of your body, or may target larger areas.

Chemotherapy (chemo) stops or slows the growth of cancer cells. It not only kills fast-growing cancer cells, but also kills or slows the growth of healthy cells that grow and divide quickly
Immunotherapy works with your body’s natural immune system response to help fight cancer. Depending on your situation, it may be used on its own or in combination with other treatments
Targeted therapy interferes with proteins that control the growth, division, and spread of cancer. This is part of a concept sometimes called “precision medicine”
Hormone therapy slows or stops the growth of cancer that uses hormones to grow. Hormone therapy is also called hormonal therapy, hormone treatment, or endocrine therapy
Stem cell transplant restores blood-forming stem cells in people who have had theirs destroyed by the high doses of chemotherapy or radiation therapy that are used to treat certain cancers

Visit cancer.gov to learn more about how each treatment works.

Treating the whole person

When it comes to cancer, it’s not just your physical health that can change. You’ll likely feel changes in some other areas of your life, including your mind and spirit.

As part of your treatment planning, your care team will consider your overall wellness. This may include ways to improve your nutrition, mental health, and exercise.