When Cancer Treatment Fails

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There are some significant concerns, when it comes to standard cancer treatment. Some of the main issues include:

• Older diagnostic tests
• Older surgical options
• Older treatment options
• Long wait times (to receive necessary tests, surgeries, and treatments)

The Canadian Government, itself, has acknowledged these failings. A recent document titled The Health of Canadians: The Federal Role confirms, "…reform of primary health care delivery [...] is essential to the efficient and timely provision of health care in the twenty-first century."

Because of the current shortcomings associated with standard cancer treatment, it’s imperative to seek help from services like CTOAM until precision oncology becomes integrated into the mainstream system.

Problems with Standard Cancer Treatment

1. Inaccurate diagnostic tests for cancer
Standard cancer treatment typically begins with diagnostic tests such as Ultrasound and CT scans. These tests:

• Do not effectively differentiate cancerous tissue from non-cancerous
• Therefore, people are frequently misdiagnosed.
• Do not identify the most aggressive tumours
• Therefore, doctors are unable to prioritize treatment effectively.
• Do not clearly identify the location of all tumours in your body
• Therefore, it is common for tumours to be completely missed, or
• to have only partial tumour removal during surgery.

Fortunately, precision oncology provides technically advanced tests for identifying exactly where the cancer is in your body, its level of aggression, and if your treatment is working optimally.

2. Destructive cancer treatments
Radiation and chemotherapy are standard forms of cancer treatment that work by attacking all rapidly reproducing stem cells in the body. These treatments:

• Do not differentiate between healthy cells and cancerous ones
• Therefore, these treatments cause significant side effects that are often worse than the cancer itself.
• These treatments can actually cause recurrence of the cancer because they destroy the body so much.
• They cause harmful side effects such as hair loss, nausea, and vomiting.
• Cause extreme damage to your healthy cells
• If the treatment doesn’t manage to kill enough of the cancerous cells in time, it can cause so much damage to your healthy cells that the treatment itself will prevent you from recovering.

Happily, science has developed targeted cancer therapies that are much more effective than chemotherapy, are less invasive, and have fewer and less severe side effects.

3. One-size-fits-all approach to cancer treatment
For the most part, cancer patients are treated all the same, within standard treatment practice.

• Breast cancer patients are almost always treated exactly the same way, and the same is true for every other form of cancer.
• However, science has conclusively shown that each cancer is triggered by a unique subset of genetic mutations and lifestyle factors.
• This is true regardless of where the cancer shows up in your body.
• Due to lack of funding and education, standard cancer treatment is still approaching cancer treatment as one-size-fits-all.

The good news is that innovations in personalized cancer research are accessible to cancer patients through services like CTOAM.

4. Long wait times for cancer treatment
Usually it takes many months – if not longer – for a person complaining of potentially cancer-related symptoms to get an accurate diagnosis and access to treatments.

• Needing to wait this long for diagnosis and treatment results in many cancer patients not getting the treatment they need in time.
• The Canadian government has itself admitted in this proposal that it is necessary to change the wait times in standard treatment (and that there are many areas in need of improvement).
• Discussions are currently going on at the Federal level about the possibility of:
• Funding scientifically proven cancer tests and treatment.
• Revamping the system entirely to provide these life-saving tests and treatments within the system so that they become the standard cancer treatment in Canada.

Until either of those options becomes a reality, precision oncology services like CTOAM provide you with access to the latest medical advancements to test and treat your unique form of cancer.

How to Get Better Value Cancer Care

And these shortcomings are true for not just the Canadian health care system but to any current standard treatment – in America and even Europe. Cancer patients around the world are needing to look beyond the mainstream to access the most advanced tests and treatments that medical science has to offer.

When dealing with a disease like cancer – where every moment counts – having an advocate like CTOAM can be the difference between life and death. We are here to ensure you’re getting the best tests and treatments available for your cancer, immediately.

So please reach out with any questions or concerns you may have. Our precision oncology specialists will be happy to discuss your situation and explain how CTOAM can help. Register for a Precision Second Opinion to discover how we can help you to reduce stress and dramatically increase treatment success. The sooner you call, the sooner you can start feeling better, faster.