Cancer treatment is not equally effective in different countries. Somewhere, the diagnosis of cancer is akin to a sentence, while in developed countries, this disease can be cured in the early stages and controlled for a very long time in the advanced stages. You can opt to undergo your cancer diagnostics and treatment abroad if you want to get good results. You are welcome to visit the Booking Health website, where you will find top cancer hospitals, see prices, and choose a program at the best cost.
What cancer treatment methods are used at the best hospitals?
The world’s leading oncology hospitals perform surgeries, carry out radiation therapy, and use chemotherapy to treat cancer. It seems that patients are offered everything that is available at hospitals in countries with a low level of medicine. But in fact, everything is different in developed countries.
Surgical procedures here are becoming more sparing and less traumatic for patients. Doctors use laparoscopic, thoracoscopic, and robot-assisted cancer surgery. Whenever possible, a partial, rather than complete, removal of the organ affected by the tumor is performed in order to maintain a high quality of life for the patient after the operation. Doctors have learned to restore some organs after their removal. For example, they can create a bladder from the intestines or implant a laryngeal voice prosthesis into the esophagus so that a person can talk.
Radiation therapy at advanced cancer treatment centers is safer. Irradiation is carried out very precisely, with a minimum dose of radiation for healthy tissues, which allows patients to avoid post-radiation complications. By increasing the accuracy, it has become possible to increase the dose of radiation, so in some cases, patients can complete the entire course of radiation therapy in a few days instead of one and a half months.
Chemotherapy abroad is complemented by personalized cancer treatment with immunotherapy and targeted therapy. Treatment is prescribed based on the results of molecular genetic diagnostics, depending on the mutations detected in cancer cells. Targeted therapy is less toxic than conventional cytostatic chemotherapy and often more effective. A well-chosen regimen of drug treatment helps to control cancer for years.
Advanced cancer therapies abroad
In addition to the conventional “three pillars” of oncology, which are surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy, other advanced techniques are also used in developed countries. Here are a few examples:
Embolization. Doctors perform the procedure from inside the blood vessels to block off the arteries that feed the tumor. They are plugged with tiny beads that contain chemotherapy drugs (chemoembolization) or radioactive substances (radioembolization). As a result, cancer cells die because they do not receive blood and are damaged by drugs.
Ablation. This therapeutic procedure involves the destruction of a small tumor by inserting a needle into it. No more incisions are needed, just a puncture in the skin. The needle is inserted into the center of the tumor, and the tissue is heated. Ablation is carried out using different energies. Most often, physicians use radio frequency or microwave energy. The technique is effective for kidney, lung, pancreatic, and liver cancer.
High-intensity focused ultrasound. This treatment approach helps destroy tissue with non-invasive techniques. With this method, doctors do not even need to insert a needle. High-intensity ultrasound can cure certain types of cancer, such as prostate cancer. In some clinics in Germany, it is often used to destroy liver metastases.
Proton therapy. This is an irradiation option using protons instead of photons. They almost do not emit radiation when passing through tissues on the way to the target. They therefore allow irradiation to be carried out more safely. Proton therapy can be used for brain neoplasms, head and neck tumors, and in pediatric oncology.
Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemoperfusion. After removing the tumor and metastases in the abdominal cavity, doctors rinse the abdominal cavity with a heated solution of chemotherapy drugs for one and a half hours to destroy the remaining cancer cells.
Radiotargeted therapy. Doctors inject a radiopharmaceutical consisting of a ligand and a radionuclide into the patient’s body. The ligands target a molecular target that is present in cancer cells but absent in healthy tissues. They bring a radionuclide into the tumor, which affects cancer cells with radiation. As a result, the radiopharmaceutical destroys tumor foci throughout the body, almost without damaging healthy tissues.
All these and many other techniques are used by the best cancer doctors abroad. You are welcome to use the Booking Health service to choose the most suitable hospital for cancer care and schedule your treatment appointment for your preferred dates. The best cancer specialists will take care of your health, and the Booking Health employees will take care of organizing your trip.
