Vol 3, No 2 Physical Method in Palliation
Guest Editor: Yufeng Zhou, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
The main goals of a cancer diagnosis and treatment are to cure, to prolong the survival, or to ensure the best quality of life to cancer survivors although not amenable to early screening, such as metastatic seminoma, acute lymphatic leukemia in children, breast cancer and advanced lymphomas. The common cancer treatment modalities include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. Surgery alone, and sometimes radiation alone, has high success for localized and small tumor. Chemotherapy alone can be effective for a small number of cancers, such as haematological neoplasms (leukemias and lymphomas). In addition, pain exists in about 60% of cancer patients during treatment and persists for one third of them even after the treatment. Shrinking a tumor and reducing pressure on nerves or surrounding tissues can reduce pain.
