Medical Oncology

Medical oncology is a subspecialty of oncology that involves drugs to target and destroy cancer cells. It’s a modality of treatment in which desired cancer care is achieved effectively by precisely targeting the cancer cells. It can also work in conjunction with surgical and radiation oncology to achieve the best clinical outcomes.

The procedures are highly effective for the treatment and management of a broad range of malignancies. Our medical oncology team are experts in systemic cancer treatments, including chemotherapy, endocrine therapy, as well as the latest monoclonal and targeted treatments for solid tumours.

Types of treatment in medical oncology:

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Chemotherapy:

Also referred to as “chemo”, it’s the most common type of cancer treatment that uses chemical drugs to destroy cancer cells. It specifically targets cancer cells as they grow and divide quicker than healthy cells. However, it can also harm other healthy cells dividing quickly, such as the one in the mouth, intestine and skin. It can cause various side effects, which go away only after chemotherapy is over.

Chemotherapy can be used in conjunction with other treatments to improve the outcome. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is delivered before surgery or radiotherapy to stop or shrink the growth of cancer. Adjuvant chemotherapy is delivered after primary treatment to destroy the remaining cancer cells. Chemotherapy can also be used to improve the outcome of primary treatment by targeting cancer cells that have come back or spread to other parts of the body.

Unlike earlier days, we have several options of giving 1st, 2nd, and 3rd line drugs. So it can be specialized to treat various cancers depending on how well the cancer cells react to treatments.

Immunotherapy:

While it's a relatively new cancer treatment in India, it has been delivering astonishing results to date. Also called biological therapy, immunotherapy is an evolving and promising type of cancer treatment that helps the immune system fight cancer. The immune system works as the body’s defence system, which prevents infections and diseases.

It stimulates the immune system to preserve healthy cells while identifying and halting the growth of cancer cells. It also enables oncologists to design a more effective cancer treatment that can offer better outcomes and a low chance of relapses. Based on its functions, immunotherapy is classified into three types, which are drug therapy, cell therapy and cancer Vaccines:

In drug therapy, we use drugs to boost the immune system response to destroy cancer cells.
In cell therapy, we use modified T-cells to treat cancer cells.
Cancer vaccines trigger the immune system to recognize and destroy cancer cells.

Targeted therapy:

As the medical fraternity is learning more about cell mutations, more promising treatments are being available for cancers. Targeted therapy is one of the most common Cancer We Treat treatment and has shown promising results. It uses a combination of drugs that targets specific parts of cancer cells that help cancers grow and spread.

They target specific genes or proteins in cancer cells, which could be related to cancer growth, such as blood vessel cells. It can slow or stop cancer growth and work better than other treatments in some types of cancer. They are used to treat more than 15 types of cancer, including breast, prostate, colon and even lung cancer.

Hormone therapy:

Some cancers are dependent on hormones to grow and develop. In some cases, hormones can also increase the risk of certain cancers, such as thyroid and prostate cancer. However, it also means that these cancers are dependent on the hormone.

In hormone therapy, drugs are used to slow or stop the growth of cancer cells. It can also stop hormones from being developed or prevents hormones from reaching the cancer cells. Cancers that can be treated by hormone therapy include: