Cancer Treatment

Cancer has a highly emotional impact on the patient who is diagnosed with the disease, and on his or her family. Most health care providers in the United States try to provide substantial medical and nonmedical support for both the patient and family. Many health care providers have developed comprehensive cancer centers to provide expert management of patients with cancer. The centers provide resources and information for both patients and the physicians treating them.

Methods for treating cancer include surgery; radiation therapy; and drug therapy. Most cancer treatment plans combine several or all of these methods in a technique called multimodality therapy. Physicians may use biological response modifiers to enhance a patient's ability to fight cancer. However, some cancer patients seek nontraditional or alternative treatments.