News & Information

If you think you may be at risk for cancer, it’s vital to understand the available treatment options. Treatments vary depending on the type and severity of your cancer, but in general your doctor will prescribe one of three main options, or a combination of two or more. Surgery, chemotherapy and radiation are the three most common cancer treatments, but depending on your condition, you may want to seek alternative options or experimental treatments instead.

Surgery, the first treatment option, can be preventive (removing body tissue that is likely to develop cancer), diagnostic or staging (operating to find out the type of cancer and see how far it has spread), curative (surgery to remove cancerous tissue) or palliative (intended to make life easier for the patient). After the initial series of cancer surgeries, restorative surgery may be needed to improve the function or appearance of body parts.

During chemotherapy, patients take drugs either orally or via injection in an effort to destroy cancer cells throughout the body. There are currently over 100 drugs available for chemotherapy – doctors will decide which chemo drug or combination of drugs works best for an individual patient’s condition.

Radiation therapy exposes cancer cells to a high dose of radiation, killing tumors in a localized area. (While chemotherapy exposes the entire body to treatment, radiation targets just the affected area.) Radiation may be intended to cure cancer, slow cancer growth or help the patient feel better.

Cancer treatments are expensive, and typical health insurance may not cover the cost of surgery, drugs or radiation therapy. If you think you may be at risk for cancer, you should consider applying for a cancer insurance policy on CancerPlans.com. Cancer insurance provides a lump sum benefit upon first diagnosis of cancer, allowing patients to pay for medical expenses that normal insurance may not cover.

(1) Understanding Cancer Surgery: A Guide for Patients and Their Families. August 2011. American Cancer Society. August 6 2012. http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/TreatmentsandSideEffects/TreatmentTypes/Surgery/surgery-and-cancer

(2) Understanding Chemotherapy: A Guide for Patients and Their Families. March 2011. American Cancer Society. August 6 2012. http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/TreatmentsandSideEffects/TreatmentTypes/Chemotherapy/UnderstandingChemotherapyAGuideforPatientsandFamilies/understanding-chemotherapy-learning-what-is-it-how-it-works

(3) Questions about radiation therapy. December 2009. American Cancer Society. August 6 2012. http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/TreatmentsandSideEffects/TreatmentTypes/Radiation/RadiationTherapy-WhatItIsHowItHelps/radiation-therapy-what-it-is-questions-about-rad-therapy