Treatments
Radiotherapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, immunotherapy and targeted therapy, each explained in plain language. Most patients have more than one of these.
Radiotherapy
A machine outside the body aims radiation from several directions at a set area and damages the DNA of cancer cells. You cannot see or feel the radiation, and most patients are treated as outpatients.
Read moreChemotherapy
Medicines that harm fast-dividing cells. Why treatment comes in cycles, and where its side effects come from.
Read moreHormone therapy
For cancers that grow on hormones, such as some breast and prostate cancers.
Read moreImmunotherapy
It strengthens the immune system against cancer. Its side effects differ from chemotherapy and should be reported early.
Read moreTargeted therapy
It acts on specific proteins in the cancer cell, so the tumour often has to be tested first.
Read more
The full patient guide
What to prepare for the first visit, what a planning CT is, how a treatment session goes, the side effects of each area, and when to act urgently.