Cancer is one of the deadliest and least understood diseases that afflicts humans and other animals. It is one of the most common causes of death among Americans and scientists have spent many years and plenty of money on creating a cure for cancer. While cancer is yet to be considered "curable", many new advancements have been made which can slow cancer growths and prolong the lives of many people. This article will introduce a few of the most common methods of treating different types of cancer that can range from breast and prostate cancer to skin cancer.

Surgery

The first option for most patients diagnosed with cancer is to receive an initial surgery. The purpose of operating on the patient is to remove as much of the cancerous cells as possible. Cancer is usually found in a tumor, which is a large group of unhealthy cells. By opening up the patient and extracting these tumors, physicians can remove more than 95% of the cancerous cells. The downside of surgery is that many of the cells are tiny and have spread to other parts of the body. This means that it would be almost impossible for the surgeon to remove all of the cancerous cells.

Another important reason for operating on the patient is to implant a piece of radioactive material near the location of the tumor. This radioactive material is able to annihilate local cancerous cells by emitting high energy particles that destroy cancerous DNA.

Chemotherapy

The process of treating disease by using chemicals to kill small cancerous cells is called chemotherapy. Chemotherapy acts by destroying cancerous cells that are trying to quickly reproduce. Doctors must take special precautions when performing chemotherapy because the chemicals may also destroy healthy cells that also reproduce quickly such as hair follicles and bone marrow.

Radiation Therapy

Using ionized radiation to destroy cancer cells is known as radiotherapy, or radiation therapy. Radiation therapy is effective because it damages the DNA of cells by shooting a beam of photons, electrons, protons, ions, or neutrons directly at the cancerous cells. Radiation has been proven to be highly effective and is becoming a more and more common way to treat cancer patients.

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