Types of cancer treatment

Neoadjuvant therapy

This type of treatment is given before any other therapy, usually to try and shrink the size of the tumour before surgery or radiation is peformed. Examples of neoadjuvant therapy can include radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and hormone therapy.

Adjuvant therapy

This is a treatment that is given after your main therapy to increase your chances of killing off all of the cancer and prevent it from coming back. An example of this type of therapy is giving chemotherapy after surgery to kill any cancer cells that may have spread beyond the initial tumour.

Palliative therapy

Palliative therapy is usually given to people with advanced disease or bothersome symptoms caused by their tumour. The goal of palliative therapy is not to cure the cancer but to help to reduce the symptoms and try to improve the quality of life of people with cancer. This can be accomplished with any of the current therapies available.