Chemotherapy is a medication or combination of medications used to treat cancer. Chemotherapy can be given orally (as a pill) or injected intravenously (IV).
CyberKnife delivers highly targeted beams of radiation directly into tumors, in a pain-free, non-surgical way. Guided by specialized imaging software, we can track and continually adjust treatment at any point in the body, and without the need for the head frames and other equipment that are needed for some other forms of radiosurgery.
For patients with advanced-stage melanoma, immunotherapy may improve the body’s natural immune response to cancer. Immunotherapy recruits the body’s own immune system and uses it to fight cancer all over the body, making it difficult for cancer cells to hide or develop defenses against it. Immunotherapy has the potential to keep working even after the patient has completed treatment.
Some tumors are hard to reach through surgery because of where they are. However, a laser can strike small tumors in delicate or hard-to-reach areas. When conducting a laser resection, the surgeon inserts a tool through a small incision, directs the laser at the tumor, and transmits the high-energy beam, which destroys cancerous tissue by vaporizing it.
In which your surgeon gains access using a series of small band-aid incisions, and performs the procedure with specially made surgical tools that are inserted through incisions.
Patients receive palliative care to control pain and other symptoms caused by the cancer and to relieve the side effects of treatment. There are several methods of pain control, including pain medicines, nerve blocks (a procedure in which alcohol is used to block pain), and complementary therapies (such as massage or acupuncture). Palliative surgery, such as stent placement or bypass surgery, may also be used to relieve bile duct blockage and the symptoms it may cause.
Radiation uses special equipment to deliver high-energy particles, such as x-rays, gamma rays, electron beams or protons, to kill or damage cancer cells. Radiation can be delivered internally through seed implantation or externally using linear accelerators.
Stereotactic body radiation therapy directs multiple beams of energy at the tumor from different angles. The radiation oncologist is able to deliver higher doses of radiation to the tumor and minimize damage to surrounding healthy tissue.