Can you refuse medical treatment for cancer?
Treatment decision making is an ongoing process; thus, patients who initially refuse treatment may later choose to undergo conventional cancer treatment if given the adequate support, information, and time necessary to make the decision.
What is conventional cancer treatment?
Treatment that is widely accepted and used by most healthcare professionals. It is different from alternative or complementary therapies, which are not as widely used. Examples of conventional treatment for cancer include chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery. Also called conventional therapy.
When should you refuse chemotherapy?
Cancer treatment is at its most effective the first time that it's used. If you've undergone three or more chemotherapy treatments for your cancer and the tumors continue to grow or spread, it may be time for you to consider stopping chemotherapy.
Why do some cancer patients refuse chemotherapy?
Concerns About Chemo and Your Natural Defenses A growing population of adults are choosing to refuse chemo is based on the way in which it works. Chemotherapy does not kill your immune system as claimed, but it can harm it temporarily.
What is the meaning of conventional medicine?
A system in which medical doctors and other healthcare professionals (such as nurses, pharmacists, and therapists) treat symptoms and diseases using drugs, radiation, or surgery. Also called allopathic medicine, biomedicine, mainstream medicine, orthodox medicine, and Western medicine.
What is the most successful cancer treatment?
Top of the best cancer drug list is Celgene's Revlimid (lenalidomide). This drug has been very successful in the treatment of multiple myeloma as it promotes immune responses that slow tumour growth. It is also used to treat myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS).
Why do oncologists push chemo?
An oncologist may recommend chemotherapy before and/or after another treatment. For example, in a patient with breast cancer, chemotherapy may be used before surgery, to try to shrink the tumor. The same patient may benefit from chemotherapy after surgery to try to destroy remaining cancer cells.
What is the alternative to chemotherapy?
Alternative therapies to chemotherapy include photodynamic therapy, laser therapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, and hormone therapy. Individuals should discuss possible treatments with medical professionals to establish which treatment may be most beneficial for them.
Do oncologists lie about prognosis?
Many have fulminated against oncologists who lie to patients about their prognoses, but sometimes cancer doctors lie for or with patients to improve our chances of survival.
Can you survive cancer without chemo?
It found that low-risk patients did well without chemotherapy. That study showed the test could select a cohort of patients with a 99 percent chance of five-year survival without distant metastasis. For those women, the risks of chemotherapy aren't justifiable.
When do doctors decide not to treat cancer?
If the cancer cannot be cured If a cure is not possible and treatment aims to control the cancer, it may be difficult to decide whether to go ahead. If the cancer is advanced and has spread to other parts of the body, treatment may be able to control it, improving symptoms and quality of life.
What happens if you leave cancer untreated?
For some people, the cancer can't be controlled anymore and spreads to healthy tissues and organs. Cancer cells take up the needed space and nutrients that the healthy organs would use. As a result, the healthy organs can no longer function. For other people, complications from treatment can cause death.
Who wrote the book "Saying No to Conventional Cancer Treatment"?
Saying No to Conventional Cancer Treatment " is a book written by Hollie and Patrick Quinn about navigating through the shock and the fear of a breast cancer diagnosis at a very young age and during her pregnancy with their first child. It is the story of the many courageous and intelligent choices they made along the way.
What are the factors that determine the treatment of cancer?
Furthermore, the plan for treating an individual and their cancer very much depends upon the stage at which the cancer is discovered and on many other factors which include, but are not limited to, the aggressiveness, size and invasiveness of the tumor cells .
How long did it take Patrick and Hollie to learn about cancer?
Upon hearing the devastating diagnosis and the recommended toxic chemotherapy treatment, they decided to take a few months to systematically learn and understand the molecular biology of breast cancer and the cancer treatments recommended to them.
Is cancer treatment changing?
Today, the landscape of cancer treatment and diagnosis is rapidly changing . Many forward thinking Oncologists and Oncology Centers now include Alternative Cancer Care in the treatment plans of their patients. Because our understanding of cancer genetics is advancing, Oncologists are beginning to acknowledge that Cancer Care can now become more ...
Can breast cancer be resolved without treatment?
Some researchers now believe that early forms of breast cancer may spontaneously resolve without treatment. Therefore, because this book is the story of just one woman, no generalizations or assumptions can be made about other women facing breast cancer.
Should I expect to live if I have breast cancer?
It is also true, that in America today, if a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer, she should "Expect to live," according to Kristi Funk, M.D., Breast Surgeon. This is because there is very good and effective treatment for breast cancer within both the conventional and alternative cancer worlds. It is also because we do our best ...
Is breast cancer a choice?
This is not a choice for everyone. Cancer is not one disease. Breast cancer is not one disease. There are breast cancers -- plural. Whether or not a person with cancer should choose a conventional treatment path or choose a path of Integrative Cancer Care, combining the best of both worlds, must be an informed choice based on evidence and research, ...