Diary 127: Cancer treatments

Cancer is a deadly disease which can end a patient’s life within months.

Oncologists normally adopt one or more of the following treatments.

1. Remove can cells with surgery.
2. Kill them with chemicals (chemotherapy).
3. Kill them with radiation (radiotherapy).
4. Stop, slow down cancer cell growth by blocking biochemical pathways that promote cancer cell growth (target therapy).
5. Stimulate the immune system to attach cancer cells.
6. Apply human initiated therapeutic vaccine therapy.

In the above treatments, it is a “zero-sum” war game. The perception is that cancer cells must be killed to enable the patients to survive.

Do cancer patients have other choices?

Yes, there is the alternative treatment where you do not treat the cancer cells your enemy. They are part of you and have to be taken care with great love and compassion. It involves a holitic change in a patient’s life --- physical (such as diet), mental and spiritual aspects.