The goal of any method of cancer treatment is to put the disease in remission or to control the spread of the disease. There are many types of treatment methods that are administered to cancer patients and the type you receive will depend on the type of cancer and its stage. Some cancer patients will only receive one treatment method, while others may need a combination of therapies.

Different treatment methods for cancer include the following:

1. Primary treatment
As mentioned, most treatment methods aim to remove or destroy all the cancerous cells in the body. The most common primary treatment method is surgery. If one is suffering from reactive cancer, then radiation or chemotherapy can also be applied as a primary treatment.

2. Palliative treatment
The objective of this treatment is to relieve the signs and symptoms of cancer in those affected. It can also be used to ease the side effects caused as a result of various treatment methods. This can be used with other forms of treatments to cure cancer.

3. Adjuvant treatment
This therapy destroys the cancer cells that may be left in the body after primary treatment is applied. This will reduce the chance of any recurrence of the cancer. Hormone therapy, radiation, or chemotherapy can also act as adjuvant treatment.

4. Various treatment methods for cancer
The treatment options generally depend on the type, severity, and location of the cancer along with the affected person’s overall health. Some of the different types of common cancer treatments that are considered to be helpful with various kinds of cancer include:

• Surgery
  The types of surgery vary as per the type of cancer. It is used to remove all cancer cells or as many as possible if the condition is severe and cannot be treated.
• Chemotherapy
  In this treatment method, a combination of medication is administered to destroy cancer cells.
• Radiation
  This is a common cancer treatment, wherein high energy beams are used to kill cancer cells. Two types of therapies are involved in this method. They are external beam radiation (energy beams are provided from an external machine) and brachytherapy (a sealed radiation source is positioned near the cancer within the body).
• Bone marrow transplant
  Bone marrow is a material found in the bones; this is responsible for the production of blood cells from blood stem cells. It is also known as stem cell transplant and it allows the usage of high doses of chemotherapy to treat cancer.
• Immunotherapy
  In this method, the immune system is used to fight against cancer. Sometimes, the immune system fails to recognize the presence of cancer in the body. This therapy helps it recognize cancer and creates resistance against it.

Generally, all these methods are common treatments for different types of cancer. However, with a more specific form of cancer, doctors might use certain targeted forms of therapy for better treatment.