Major Breakthrough Cancer Cures

Hormone Therapy

Hormone therapy is a type of treatment that has been shown to be effective in slowing or stopping the growth of certain kinds of cancers that can utilize hormones to grow. There are two main types of hormone therapy characterized by the mechanism of which they work. Hormone therapy can work by inhibiting the body's mechanism of natural production of hormones, or it can work by altering the way hormones function in the body. The forms of cancer that use hormones to grow and can be treated with hormone therapy are breast and prostate cancer. Hormone therapy can be used to eradicate cancerous cells that have metastasized to other parts of the body or malignant cells that have returned. Hormone therapy is commonly used in tandem with other cancer treatments. It can be used as neoadjuvant therapy to shrink a cancerous tumor before its surgical excision or eradication with radiation therapy. Hormone therapy can be used as adjuvant therapy or therapy used to reduce the risk a patient's cancer will return after they have undergone the primary treatment for it.

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Stem Cell Transplant

A stem cell transplant is a procedure used to replenish and replace the stem cells or blood-forming cells in the bone marrow of individuals affected by certain types of cancer. Stem cell transplants can also be used for patients who have had their bone marrow damaged by chemotherapy or radiation therapy used in high doses to treat another form of cancer. The cells in the bone marrow called stem cells are what forms the white blood cells, platelets, and red blood cells. In individuals affected by some forms of leukemia or multiple myeloma, a stem cell transplant can provide immune defense against growing cancer through the transplanted white blood cells. Other forms of cancer that can be treated using a stem cell transplant are lymphoma and neuroblastoma. There are three types of stem cell transplants. An autologous transplant involves the transplantation of stem cells that come from the patient's own body. An allogeneic transplant involves the transplantation of stem cells from a separate but compatible donor to the patient. A syngeneic stem cell transplant involves the transplantation of stem cells from the patient's identical twin if applicable.

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