Treatment Options

Once cancer is detected, treatment methods can be as varied as the different types of cancer. Today, cancer patients have more treatment options than ever before. Surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy remain the most common methods of fighting cancer. Newer approaches such as hormone therapy (drugs or surgery to block cancer-promoting hormones), targeted therapy (drugs specifically aimed at a marker on cancer cells) and biological therapy (natural and manmade substances to boost the immune system), are also available to patients through our comprehensive cancer program.

Surgery

Surgery is a powerful weapon in the cancer-fighting arsenal, as it's used to:
  • Obtain biopsies to aid in cancer diagnosis
  • Eliminate cancerous tissue to prevent spreading
  • Remove areas of organs, such as the colon, with small laproscopic incisions
  • Perform outpatient surgeries for procedures like lumpectomies when only the cancerous lump is removed and the breast remains

On the cutting edge of surgical services, North Kansas City Hospital was one of the first hospitals in Kansas City to use the daVinci robot for prostate surgery, a less intrusive and increasingly popular way to treat prostate cancer. Another option is implanting radioactive "seeds" that emit low-energy radiation into the prostate gland to kill the cancer without affecting the rest of the body.

Chemotherapy

Therapeutic chemotherapy, which uses drugs to attack and destroy cancer cells, is one of the most common ways to fight cancer. Hospital inpatients and outpatients benefit from chemotherapy administered by certified oncology nurses. Outpatients receive therapy without an overnight stay in our convenient Outpatient Cancer Center.

Radiation Oncology

Radiation therapy uses high-energy rays to slow, stop or destroy cancer cells. It's a field characterized by technological advances that continue to increase the odds of beating cancer. North Kansas City Hospital offers a newer technology, IMRT (Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy), which allows radiation to "wrap around" critical normal tissues which are best spared from radiation. With this technique, radiation dosage is distributed in complex three-dimensional shapes to ensure better treatment coverage of the tumor.

Other radiation services include brachytherapy (radioactive implant) which includes Mammosite® for early stage breast cancer and prostate seed implants for prostate cancer and radioisotope therapy (inject a radioactive substance into the blood stream). Breast, lung, prostate, bone and brain are the most commonly treated cancer types. Radiation therapy services are located in the Outpatient Cancer Center in Medical Plaza North.

Skin Care During Radiation Therapy