What are the risks and benefits of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy as cancer treatments?
Scientific: knowledge behind treatments, evidence from experimental studies that support the treatment
Technological: equipment/technologies available, success of each treatment, diversity in application (does it treat several types of cancer or only a few?)
Societal: Cost of treatment; accessibility; religious, cultural or gender bias; health effects; government support
This is in my grade 11 biology class and is a required question. I’m getting nowhere with researching, any help?
I’m supposed to answer all the technology and scientific things too. Talk about experimental studies, the equipment, success and failure, etc.. I’m just being really vague on it all like with chemo so far it’s “risks: side effects, expensive, infections, awkward tubes in awkward places” and such.
And there’s a lot of different drugs for chemotherapy so I keep getting super specific answers for my general question. =/
Best Answer: This answer requires an entire textbook or many textbooks actually.
You must ask a more specific question.
No one can answer this in a reasonable amount of space.
You would need separate answers for each of the 200+ types of cancer, each of the 100+ different chemotherapy drugs, and each of the many more hundreds of combination regimens of chemotherapy and chemotherapy plus radiation therapy.
Just the risks and benefits of various radiation treatment options is a textbook in itself.
It takes 13 years of training in the USA to know the medical oncology / chemotherapy part alone. It takes 13 years to be a surgeon knowing the risks and benefits of surgical oncology. A similar amount of study is needed to be a radiation oncologist.Curious question. Why so broad? I hope you do not have a teacher who expects you to answer this. I suppose it is possible to answer in the most general of terms.Added note - 11th grade biology class ! ! ! Your teacher cannot think this question can be answered by anyone in high school. I suggest you might diplomatically write that the question as posed is unanswerable. I hope your teacher does not think there is one simple answer for all of this. It is amazing how many people - even high school teachers - think cancer is one disease and chemotherapy is one treatment.
You might refer your teacher to Vincent DeVita et al "Cancer - Principles and Practice of Oncology" 7th Edition 2005 which is over 3000 pages - and that does not really cover all of the radiation and surgical risks / benefits - or societal / religious problems / costs.
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4 Comments
This answer requires an entire textbook or many textbooks actually.
You must ask a more specific question.
No one can answer this in a reasonable amount of space.
You would need separate answers for each of the 200+ types of cancer, each of the 100+ different chemotherapy drugs, and each of the many more hundreds of combination regimens of chemotherapy and chemotherapy plus radiation therapy.
Just the risks and benefits of various radiation treatment options is a textbook in itself.
It takes 13 years of training in the USA to know the medical oncology / chemotherapy part alone. It takes 13 years to be a surgeon knowing the risks and benefits of surgical oncology. A similar amount of study is needed to be a radiation oncologist.
Curious question. Why so broad? I hope you do not have a teacher who expects you to answer this. I suppose it is possible to answer in the most general of terms.
Added note – 11th grade biology class ! ! ! Your teacher cannot think this question can be answered by anyone in high school. I suggest you might diplomatically write that the question as posed is unanswerable. I hope your teacher does not think there is one simple answer for all of this. It is amazing how many people – even high school teachers – think cancer is one disease and chemotherapy is one treatment.
You might refer your teacher to Vincent DeVita et al “Cancer – Principles and Practice of Oncology” 7th Edition 2005 which is over 3000 pages – and that does not really cover all of the radiation and surgical risks / benefits – or societal / religious problems / costs.
lol
What’s the benefit and risk of gravity?
Please answer in 10 words or less.
I have several good sources that I use. The information is not too technical
and easily referenced.
Here you go hon.
http://www.cancer.ca.
http://www.cancer.org.
http://www.cancer.gov.
http://www.webmd.com.
http://www.rxlist.com
http://www.mayoclinic.com/.
http://www.uhn.ca/applications/PMH/iNews/default.aspx.
http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/5804.cfm.
Keep it simple – it stops you from dying.