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Cancer reminds us of weeds. You have to get rid of the weeds, otherwise they will keep growing and crowd out the flowers in the garden. Some weeds are easier to get rid of than others. There are a lot of different ways to get rid of weeds: pulling, cutting them or using weed spray.

Cancer specialists use different treatments to get rid of cancer - primarily: surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy and biotherapy. Depending on what type of cancer people have, they could have one kind of treatment or a combination of treatments. Others treatments for cancer include hormonal drugs, mainly in treating breast and prostate cancer, antibody treatment, which targets the surface of cancer cells with certain features, and blood stem cell transplant.

Treatment choices for a person with cancer depend on three things

· the type of cancer and location of tumour
· the stage of the tumour (meaning if it has spread and how far)
· the patient's age and general health

Treatments for cancer sometimes cause unwanted side effects such as hair loss, nausea, and weakness.

Destroying cancer cells brings about a remission, which is a period of time when the cancer is under control or when all the signs and symptoms of the cancer disappear. Complete remissions may continue for years and be considered cures. If the disease returns, another remission often can occur with further treatment.

Surgery is used to remove a tumour that is localised in a tissue or organ. The surgeon removes the cancer cells or the tumour completely. Some healthy cells may also be removed to make sure that all the cancer is gone. Surgery is often combined with chemotherapy and/or radiation to ensure all cancer cells are removed.

Radiation is one of the most common treatments for cancer. The radiologist aims a beam of high-energy rays, such as X-rays and gamma rays, directly onto a tumour using a radiotherapy machine. These beams of radiation are many times more powerful than those produced in ordinary x-ray machines, in that they can damage and destroy cancer cells causing the tumour to shrink and even remove it completely. In order to focus the beam accurately onto the tumour, many X-rays films and Computer Tomography (CT) scans are taken to identify the exact position of the tumour.
Radiation treatments for cancer take only a few minutes and often are given over a period of several weeks. Depending on the stage of the cancer, treatment with radiation may be given alone or with chemotherapy.

Chemotherapy (say: kee-mo-THER-a-pee) is the treatment of cancer with drugs that destroy cancer cells. Chemotherapy is often used to fight cancer that has spread to the other areas of the body and cannot be easily detected or treated by surgery or radiation therapy.

Chemotherapy usually consists of a combination of several anti-cancer drugs. The doctors decide which groups of drugs to use depending on what type of cancer the person has. Chemotherapy is usually given many times for several months or years. It may be given alone or in combination with radiation therapy.

Biological Therapy is a treatment that uses the body own natural defence system known as the immune system.
Our body has its own defence mechanisms against tumour cells including processes to repair mutations of DNA, and certain cells and substances of the immune system, which can destroy cancer cells. When a person develops cancer, it means that these "natural" defences are no longer effective against the cancer.

Biotherapy is designed to repair, stimulate, and improve the ability of the patient's immune system to fight cancer. Biological therapy uses substances such as antibodies whih home in directly to the site of the cancer.
It is used either alone, or in conjunction with other conventional treatments such as surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.

Biotherapy is used to:

• Stop, control, or suppress processes that promote cancer growth;
  
• Boost the killing power of the body's immune system cells, such as T-cells, NK-cells (natural killer cells), and macrophages;
  
• Change cancer cells' growth patterns to promote behaviour like that of healthy cells;
  
• Enhance the body's ability to repair or replace normal cells damaged or destroyed by other forms of cancer treatment, such as chemotherapy or radiation; and
  
• Prevent cancer cells from spreading to other parts of the body.