Chemotherapy uses cancer-fighting drugs to combat the disease. Just as with other approaches, chemotherapy may be used alone or in combination with radiation, surgery or other new innovations in cancer treatment. Biological response modifiers and modern anti-nausea medications allow most patient to avoid many of the toxicities and side effects experienced with chemotherapy just a decade ago. The side effects can vary depending on the chemotherapy regimen received, however our medical oncologists make it a priority to treat and minimize these side effects to the fullest extent possible. Throughout treatment, your healthcare team closely monitors your lab results and response to the chemotherapy. 

There are many different kinds of chemotherapy and many different cancers, making every treatment plan highly individualized.
 

By using different medications to harness the body’s immune system, immunotherapy actually helps the body fight cancer. Normally, our bodies produce many of these substances in small amounts. Supplied in larger amounts, they can enable the body’s immune system to find and attack the cancer cells more effectively. These substances may also make the cancer cells more sensitive to attack and destruction by other cancer treatments.
 

Sometimes used to help the body recover from the side effects of chemotherapy, biological response modifiers represent a major advance in modern cancer care. Some modifiers help the body produce blood cells needed for a normal and healthy level of function. They may also allow patients to receive higher doses of chemotherapy than would ordinarily be possible by stimulating the cells in the bone marrow to produce infection-fighting white blood cells faster. In other applications, biological response modifiers can protect the kidneys, heart and nervous system from damage by chemotherapy or radiation treatment. Biological response modifiers are often used with many other cancer therapies, including immununotherapy.

Swedish Cancer Institute is our preferred provider of radiation oncology services. 

Located in the same buildings as both Puget Sound Cancer Centers, visiting your doctor and receiving treatment is made even more convenient and time-efficient.

Approximately 50 to 60 percent of all cancer patients are treated with radiation therapy at some point during the course of their disease. Radiation therapy uses high energy x-rays directed specifically at the cancer site to destroy or shrink the cancerous tumor, and can be administered internally or externally. The most common use of radiation is external radiation that can be administered in an outpatient treatment center. For internal radiation (brachytherapy), a radioactive substance is sealed in tiny implants that are then placed directly into the cancerous site.
 

Our patients have access to IMRT and image guided treatment, both advanced forms of radiation therapies. IMRT uses a computerized treatment system to precisely deliver radiation to a complex, three-dimensional target (the tumor), while minimizing injury to surrounding tissue. Image guidance uses implantable markers that allow the radiation oncologist to track tumor position during a course of treatment. 

As with other treatment approaches, radiation can be used alone or in combination with surgery or chemotherapy. Oftentimes it’s used prior to surgery in order to shrink the tumor. After surgery it can be used to destroy any cancerous cells that may have been left behind. In addition, radiation can help relieve discomfort resulting from tumors pressing on bones, nerves or other organs.
 

In order to continually develop innovations in oncology and hematology, clinical research is the key to higher quality treatment and better outcomes. Through our affiliation with US Oncology, our national research partner and the single largest cancer research platform in the country, research studies and clinical trials are an ongoing part of our centers to find new alternatives for treating cancer. It is not unusual for PSCC to have access to new treatment agents before any other cancer center in the region, due to this close tie to the source of so many clinical trials. 

For more information about becoming a participant in one of our clinical trials, talk to your doctor or our PSCC research coordinator.

For more details, please click on our Clinical Trials page.
 

We consider it an important part of our center to help patients negotiate the tricky world of health insurance. After a patient’s first visit, we can set up a time to meet with one of our financial counselors who is a trained specialist on insurance issues. We know that Medicare and insurance can be confusing and are happy to help clarify how your plan covers cancer care.