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Every patient is different. If you have cancer, you will have your own personal treatment plan, based on your needs.
Your doctors will take many things into account when they decide which treatment to recommend. For example:
- the type of cancer you have
- how big it is (the grade of cancer)
- how quickly it is growing (the stage of cancer)
- whether it has spread to other parts of the body – and if so, where to and how much
- your age and general health
- your wishes.
Your doctors will talk with you about all your options. You will need to agree to treatment before it can start – this is called giving your consent. You will be able to get more information about 'consent' here soon.
What sort of treatments are there?
The most common cancer treatments are...
- surgery - an operation to remove the cancer
- radiotherapy - uses radiation to kill cancer cells
- chemotherapy - uses special drugs to kill cancer cells
- hormone therapy - stops some cancer cells from getting or using the hormones they need to grow. This treatment can be used for only a few cancers.
Research is going on all the time to find new ways of treating cancer, or better ways of using the existing treatments. Clinical trials help us to find the best treatments for our patients. More information on 'clinical trials' can be found here.
For more information about treatments, you can visit our cancer treatments section.
