The two main treatments available at Thomson Hospital Kota Damansara (THKD) are systemic therapy and radiation therapy. You will receive treatment depending on the type of cancer you have and how advanced it is. Some people may receive only one treatment or combination treatments.
Systemic therapy refers to treatment using substances or drugs that travel through the bloodstream, reaching and targeting cancer cells all over the body. Systemic therapy includes chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, hormone therapy and supportive treatment.
Chemotherapy is a treatment that uses drugs to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing (control). In Day Care, chemotherapy drugs are either given orally or intravenously. The drugs are administered in cycles, depending on the regimens determined by the oncologist.
Targeted therapy is a type of cancer treatment that targets proteins that control how cancer cells grow, divide and spread. A patient will need to be tested (usually through biopsy or surgery) to determine the target cell types for more precise or personalised treatment.
Immunotherapy uses our immune system to fight cancer. It works by helping the immune system recognise and attack cancer cells. A patient can have immunotherapy on its own or in combination with other treatments such as chemotherapy.
Also known as hormonal therapy or endocrine therapy. Hormonal therapy uses medicine that regulates the hormones in your body to stop or slow the growth of cancer cells.
Sometimes a patient may develop complications due to the drugs or treatment. Therefore, supportive therapy such as blood transfusion, bisphosphonate, anti-vomiting medicine needs to be given to help the patient to complete the treatment safely or control the disease. A patient may also be prescribed with Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor (G-CSF) during chemotherapy treatment to encourage the bone marrow to produce more white blood cells. This can help to reduce the chances of getting an infection.
Radiation therapy, also known as radiotherapy, is a cancer treatment that uses high doses of radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumours.
At high doses, radiation therapy kills cancer cells or slows their growth by damaging their DNA. Cancer cells whose DNA is damaged beyond repair stop dividing or die. When the damaged cells die, they are broken down and removed by the body.
Radiation therapy does not kill cancer cells right away. It takes days or weeks of treatment before DNA is damaged enough for cancer cells to die. Then, cancer cells keep dying for weeks or months after radiation therapy ends.
In Thomson Hospital Kota Damansara, we offer external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) via a state-of-the-art linear accelerator (LINAC) ELEKTA Versa HD that is equipped with surface image guided system (SGRT), C-RAD Catalyst HD.
EBRT comes from a machine that aims radiation at the cancer. The machine is large and may be noisy. It does not touch you, but can move around you, sending radiation to a part of your body from many directions.
It is a local treatment, which means it treats a specific part of your body. For example, if you have cancer in your lung, you will have radiation only to your chest, not to your whole body.
The SGRT allows advanced treatment to be carried out such as Deep Inspiration Breath Hold (DIBH) technique for left breast cancer patient. The patient will benefit from higher target treatment delivery and low cardiac toxicity.
For some patients, radiation therapy may be the only treatment they need. But, most often, a patient will have radiation therapy with other cancer treatments, such as:
Radiation therapy may be given before, during or after these treatments to improve the chances that the treatment will work. The timing of when radiation therapy is given depends on the type of cancer being treated and whether the goal is to treat the cancer or ease symptoms.
When radiation is combined with surgery, it can be given:
As well as killing cancer cells, radiotherapy can damage some healthy cells in the area being treated. This can cause some side effects, such as:
Many of these side effects can be treated or prevented and most will pass after treatment stops. EBRT does not make you radioactive, as the radiation passes through your body.
If you have enquiries about radiotherapy, you can contact us at:
Radiotherapy Department, Lower Ground Floor, Block C
Email: radiotherapy@tmclife.com
Tel no: +603-61487235 / 7237
Emergency hotline (after office hours): +603-6287 1999
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