Chemotherapy (cytotoxic drugs) is used to destroy cancer cells (including leukemia and lymphoma). There are over 50 different chemotherapy drugs. Mostly chemotherapy drugs are given in combination (combination chemotherapy) for various types of cancer.

There are a number of strategies in the administration of chemotherapeutic drugs used today. Chemotherapy may be given with a curative intent or it may aim to prolong life or to palliate symptoms. Most chemotherapy is delivered intravenously, although there are a number of agents that can be administered orally. Depending on the patient, the cancer, the stage of cancer, the type of chemotherapy, and the dosage, intravenous chemotherapy may be given on either an inpatient or outpatient basis.

Radiation Therapy involves the use of ionizing radiation to control the growth of malignant cells. Radiotherapy may be used for curative or adjuvant cancer treatment. It is used as palliative treatment (where cure is not possible and the aim is for local disease control or symptomatic relief) or as therapeutic treatment (where the therapy has survival benefit and it can be curative).

Radiotherapy has a few applications in non-malignant conditions, such as the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia, severe thyroid eye disease, pterygium, prevention of keloid scar growth, and prevention of heterotopic ossification. Most side effects are predictable and expected. Side effects from radiation are usually limited to the area of the patient’s body that is under treatment.

Duration
The total dose is fractionated (spread out over time) in order to give normal cells time to recover. Fractionation regimes are highly individualized between different radiotherapy centers and even between individual doctors.

Surgery plays the most important role in cancer treatment. Various surgery disciplines like Breast, ENT, Gynecology, Gastro Intestinal Surgery, Head & Neck, Orthopedic, Peripheral Surgery, Thoracic, Urology and Plastic Reconstructions help in excision of tumor. Surgical oncology performs its most efficacious work by local tumor excision, regional lymph node removal, the handling of cancer recurrence (local or widespread), and in rare cases, with surgical resection of metastases from the primary tumor. Each of these areas plays a different role in cancer management.

The impact of a surgical procedure depends upon the diagnosis and the area of the body that is to be treated by surgery. Many cancer surgeries involve major organs and require open abdominal surgery, which is the most extensive type of surgical procedure.