Does every person found with cancer have to go through chemotherapy?

Question

if it is caught early, can surgery alone take care of it?

Answer 1

No. There are over 200 different types of cancer and much depends on the stage of the cancer and the grade of the tumor. For instance . . a stage 1 tumor can be removed surgically and that may be all that is necessary to stop the cancer. However, a person needs to consider also whether the type of cancer and the grade of the tumor would mean a possible relapse. What this means is that some tumors are graded according to how abnormal they appear under a microscope . . a low grade tumor means that the cells look fairly normal and if surgery has removed the tumor there may be very little chance of a reoccurence. But, if the cells look really abnormal the tumor is considered to be high grade . . which means that even if it is a stage 1 cancer . . than the cancer has a higher chance of coming back . . even more resistant than the first time around. So . . when a doctor sees specific types of cancer and knows that it is of a high grade variety he will recommend radiation or adjuvant chemotherapy. This is given in hopes of killing microscopic disease before it has a chance to grow and spread. Many people falsely believe that because the cancer is stage 1 and no one can see it . . that they are 'cured' . . when actually the body can be filled with hundreds of malignant 'seeds' that can go through the blood stream and lodge somewhere else. A single cancer cell can lay dormant for an undetermined amount of time before starting to grow again . . which is why you often hear cases where two or three to five or six years later a person relapsing with cancer. The cancer never really was gone . . it just hadn't started to grow again. That is why chemotherapy is often recommended even when no evidence of disease exists.

But, in answer to your question . .yes . .sometimes, with some types of cancer . . low grade and early stage cancers only may be 'cured' with surgery alone. But, a patient will always assume the risk that the cancer at some point might return.

Answer 2

Take a deep breath and calm down. Keep your mind free of preconceived ideas until after the biopsy. There is a chance that it isn't even cancer and if it is then you may need nothing more than a lumpectomy and some radiotherapy. Don't be too quick to deny yourself the treatment that will probably save your life. Ignore people who tell you chemotherapy does nt good, a decent naturopath wouldn't dismiss it outright like that. Whether or not you will need a mastectomy will depend on whether they can get clear margins after a lumpectomy. If your surgeon recommends a mastectomy listen to what he/she has to say, tell him your fears and see what he says. I was absolutely horrified when told I needed a mastectomy, it was worse than being told I had breast cancer. I thought about it for a while and realised I just had to do it if I didn't want to die. It was nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be and now nearly two years later I have had my reconstruction and feeling a lot more 'normal. With a lump only 2cm if you have a mastectomy you probably won't need radiotherapy which means that you can have a reconstruction at the same time as a mastectomy. You go into the operation with breasts and come out with breasts. These are all things to consider. There are many different outcomes with breast cancer and you need to find out what they are and what is available to you. DO NOT say no to any kind of treatment! Whatever your family members have been through is not what you are going through, everyone is different.

Answer 3

Basal cell skin cancer is an example of a cancer usually cured with surgery alone. Cancers are different and treated differently. Some respond to surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or a combination of treatments.

Answer 4

Not every kind of cancer responds to chemotherapy. If the cancer is found early on, surgery and radiation may be all that is required. However, many times chemo is recommended, but left to the patient to decide if they want it.
I had early stage breast cancer, underwent two lumpectomies and radiation therapy. It was recommended that I take taxol, but my own research led me to believe that it wasn't going to be good for me (and it was very expensive). The best results with taxol are for 5 years. I have been 7 years without re-currence. Chemotherapy is usually recommended in some of the more advanced cases, and often only to slow things down or shrink tumors so that other measures can be taken. Chemo is very hard on the body, and often causes side-effects that are worse than the cancer.
So, the basic answer is, NO, not everybody has to take chemo, even when it's recommended.

Answer 5

Depends on where the cancer is and what kind of tumor it is. Sometimes, yes, surgery alone can take care of it but often some amount of chemotherapy and/or radiation is required.

Answer 6

I had a small T2 rectal cancer, adenocarcinoma. I only needed surgery to rid me of it.

Radiation before the operation would have damaged too much healthy tissue and would have made recovery difficult and very slow. Besides, the cancer was small and there was no need to shrink it.
They cut out nearly an inch of healthy tissue all the way around the cancer to make sure no cancer was left.
My lymph nodes were removed and tested clear of cancer.
While they were inside me they also checked my liver, ovaries and other organs and they showed no signs of spread.
So no Chemotherapy was needed.

Kelly T - sincere apologies, I ticked the wrong box, I meant to give you a great answer tick.

Answer 7

sometimes yes, very often they like to follow up surgery with chemo to ensure that all of the cancer cells have gone, but not everytime.

Each case is individual and I'm afraid the only person who could give you a straight and accurate answer wouls be a doctor or surgeon who was dealing with the case.

Good Luck :)

Answer 8

I've had both melanoma and uterine cancer, surgery was all I needed, fortunately. I have now been cancer free for 5 years.

Answer 9

Sometimes. It depends on what type of cancer, how far along and the best way of getting at it. There is also radiation.

Answer 10

it all depends on the stage of the cancer when found