Terry Thompson’s Blog

My last post highlighted how impersonal most cancer treatment was regarding the specific drugs used in the chemotherapy.  There are standard drug combinations for almost all conventional treatment patients based on the average need for the average patient with a particular type of cancer.  Very few oncologists take advantage of a technology that has been available for several years which involves the lab testing of a cancer tissue sample for resistance and vulnerability to different drugs or drug combinations.  This is a common practice for integrative oncologists who are interested in personalizing treatment in every way possible.

Another aspect of personalized cancer treatment is the doctor’s practice of involving the patient in both the strategy and details of the treatment.  Most integrative oncologists discuss the patient’s desire for treatment as the first step.  They explain the options thoroughly and ask many questions about what the patient’s objectives are for responding to the disease.  It may surprise you to learn that many patients do not place their personal priority on living as long as absolutely possible.  Many prefer to maintain a comfortable quality of life without the rigors of aggressive therapies.  In such cases, the doctor-patient relationship is key to providing the cancer victim exactly what they desire in treatment as they spend sufficient time in determining what their treatment will consist of.  Perhaps a milder form of chemotherapy accompanied by various natural complementary therapies is in order.  Other patients may elect to receive only pain relief therapy with no chemotherapy of radiation.  This is in sharp contrast to the typical conventional treatment that is offered by most oncologists as the only option.

The majority of oncologists today will, in the initial meeting with the patient, discuss aggressive chemotherapy and/or radiation as the only options.  Even when a patient is diagnosed with metastasized, terminal cancer, the oncologist will usually recommend strong chemotherapy to extend life as long as possible.  Seldom is the patient even asked about their desires or priorities.  Seldom does the patient ever consider that he or she has options.  Part of the new strategy for the war on cancer is to move the cancer patients into a position of control over their own destiny.  Patient education and advocacy will create freedoms for the cancer victim that can lead to much improved quality of life, and in some cases, longer life or healing. 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 17:44 and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.