Treatment of cancer is complex and requires the collaboration of many services working together. There is no place for “one man show”. Any doctor claiming that he or she can treat cancer alone is mistaken and misleading patients. The services that are required include, but are not limited to:

• Chemotherapy: Special medications given orally, through the vein or other routes and are very toxic to cancer cells. Chemotherapy causes toxicity to some healthy cells, but this should be tolerable. Chemotherapy at KHCC is administered according to selected “protocols”. These protocols combine the most effective agents and are administered according to the most effective sequence with least side effects.
• Surgery: A specialized field of surgery called surgical oncology has emerged. Surgeries performed by doctors experienced in dealing with cancer have much better outcomes. For that reason, we always advise patients to have the first surgery, including biopsies, at KHCC. Complete removal of a tumor, with minimal damage to nearby organs the first time around, is always our goal. Sometimes, it is better to give some form of treatment such as chemotherapy or radiation prior to surgery. Still, complete and successful surgery is a very critical step in treatment.
• Radiation: A major modality to treat cancer nowadays is radiotherapy. Radiotherapy is fundamental to the optimal management of cancer patients; its efficacy is affected by technical (the nature and delivery of the beam) and biological factors (tumor susceptibility modulated by hypoxia and drugs).
• Rehabilitation: Rehabilitation involves restoring cancer patients to their highest achievable level of physical and psycho-intellectual capacity, despite the impact of their disease. Thus, it is our hope to restore and improve their overall quality of life. This includes physical therapy for the strengthening of muscles and regaining range of motion, occupation therapy for training in activities of daily living, and speech therapy for training of vocal and swallowing related functions.