Our Approach to Drug Therapy
Receiving a cancer diagnosis can feel overwhelming for you and your loved ones. It helps to know that you have a number of treatment options, no matter what type and stage of cancer you have.
Your care team combines cancer experts in several fields. Together, they will recommend treatment options based on your specific diagnosis. They will discuss these options with you and ask about your personal goals, to help you decide on a treatment plan.
Different types of treatment for cancer have different goals, such as:
- Slowing or stopping the growth of cancer
- Destroying cancer cells
- Destroying any cancer cells that may have spread (metastasized) to other areas of the body
- Delaying or preventing cancer from coming back (recurrence)
- Managing symptoms of incurable cancer
Drug therapy uses medications that travel throughout the body to target cancer cells wherever they are found.
WHAT TO KNOW WHEN CONSIDERING DRUG THERAPY
Getting Started In Your Care
Getting Your Diagnosis
Planning Your Treatment
Undergoing Treatment & Follow-Up
GETTING STARTED IN YOUR CARE
GETTING YOUR DIAGNOSIS
PLANNING YOUR TREATMENT
Information about your condition, diagnosis, and treatment planning.
Learn more about what to expect of treatment
Drug Therapy: Patient Care Resources »
Drug therapy, also known as systemic therapy, refers to several types of medication that travel through the bloodstream to attack cancer cells anywhere in the body. You can receive drug therapy orally as a pill or intravenously through an injection or infusion into a vein, or as an injection into the skin or a muscle. Your medical oncologist, a doctor who specializes in anticancer medications, manages your drug therapy.
Drug therapy can treat cancer at any stage where it developed or traveled in the body. In general, drug therapy stops the growth of cancer cells by destroying the cells or stopping them from dividing and multiplying.
The goals of drug therapy vary, depending on the type of cancer and whether or how far it has spread. Treatment goals include:
- Shrinking large tumors before surgery to make them easier to remove. Drug therapy before surgery or another primary treatment is called neoadjuvant therapy.
- Delaying or preventing cancer from coming back (recurring) after the original treatment (usually surgery). Drug therapy after surgery or another primary treatment is called adjuvant therapy.
- Slowing or delaying the growth of cancer that has spread (metastasized) to the lymph nodes to other parts of the body. Treatment goals for metastatic cancer are prolonging life and reducing cancer symptoms.
Depending on your diagnosis, your medical oncologist may recommend one of a few types of drug therapy.
- Chemotherapy: This group of medications stops the growth of rapidly dividing cells in the body, both cancerous and noncancerous. While powerful, chemotherapy can cause more side effects than other medication types, because it cannot distinguish between cancerous and healthy cells. Chemotherapy is a treatment option for almost anyone with cancer.
- Hormone (endocrine) therapy: Some cancers grow in response to the hormones estrogen and/or progesterone. Hormone therapy lowers the amount of these hormones or blocks their effect, slowing or even stopping the cancer’s growth. Hormone therapy works only for cancers that have hormone receptors, so it is not for everyone.
- Targeted therapy: These medications slow the growth and spread of cancer by interfering with specific parts of cancerous cells. For treatment to work, the cancer must have the specific markers a particular medication was designed to target.
- Immunotherapy: These medications use components from the immune system to prompt your body to fight disease. Immunotherapy is a new therapy that has become important in treating many cancers.
Choosing Drug Therapy
Certain types of drug therapy are effective for certain types and stages of cancer. Your doctor will discuss the various options with you, to help determine the best approach to your treatment.
If your doctor recommends drug therapy, you may need more than one type, at specific times in your treatment plan and for specific purposes:
Drug therapy and surgery
Many people who have early or moderate staged cancers have surgery to remove the tumor and a margin of healthy tissue. Our cancer teams pair drug therapy with surgery in different ways:
- Before surgery: Neoadjuvant drug therapy can shrink tumors to make them easier to remove and to make surgery more effective. Sometimes, neoadjuvant therapy can shrink the tumor almost completely. If the pathologist (doctor who specializes in testing) cannot find any remaining cancer cells, this result is called a pathologic complete response.
- After surgery: We often use drug therapy as an adjuvant treatment to destroy any remaining cancer cells after surgery. Studies have shown that drug therapy can help you live longer and prevent or delay cancer from returning.
If you need treatment with cancer medications such as chemotherapy, our medical oncology (cancer) team will manage your care. You are also an important team member. Help us help you by asking questions and raising your concerns.
Your medical oncology team includes a number of cancer experts:
Your Doctors
Medical Oncologist
This type of doctor has specialized training in diagnosing and treating cancer using medications. Medical oncologists often serve as your main health care provider, coordinating your treatment among several specialists.
Extended Care Team
This health care provider works with your surgical oncologist to help with diagnosis and treatment. An APP can be a nurse practitioner (NP), physician’s assistant (PA), or clinical nurse specialist (CNS).
MCCs are specialized registered nurses who provide one-on-one support to guide you through the cancer treatment process. MCCs serve as your point of contact to help manage your care, from your first appointment through follow-up visits. They assess your needs, answer your questions, make referrals, coordinate appointments, and provide patient education.
The CAA helps with administrative issues such as scheduling your appointments, managing your paperwork, and requesting your medical records.
This team member greets you at the front desk and registers you for your appointments.
If you have apheresis (a specific type of blood transfusion) or chemotherapy, your infusion treatment area (ITA) scheduler will set up your appointments.
This team member helps you during your doctor visits by:
- Bringing you to your exam room after you check in for an appointment
- Providing you with a hospital gown or other clothing for your physical exam
- Taking your vital signs before your doctor sees you
A staff member calls you before your first appointment to:
- Provide information that you need to know to prepare
- Provide a list of what you need to bring
- Help gather your medical records
This staff member supports you and your care team by recording details of your current medical condition, your past medical history and clinical care, pertinent details of your habits and lifestyle, and details of your imaging and lab work.
This type of doctor has finished a residency and is doing postgraduate studies specializing in the care of patients with cancer.
This doctor has graduated from medical school and is in training (also called residency) at Stanford. Residents in their first year are also called interns.
This health care provider is a student enrolled in Stanford’s medical school who is studying to become a doctor.
Support Services
PathWell is your connection to personalized support services before, during, and after your treatment. Our teams of doctors, nurses, social workers, spiritual care providers, nutrition experts, financial counselors, and more work with your oncology team to provide comprehensive specialized care to you and to your family.
- 650-498-6000 Ask for the PathWell team
Stanford Health Library
For confidential help with your health care questions, contact the Stanford Health Library. Professional medical librarians and trained volunteers can help you access journals, books, e-books, databases, and videos to learn more about medical conditions, treatment options, and related issues.
- 875 Blake Wilbur, Palo Alto: 1st floor near the cafe, 650-736-1960
- South Bay Cancer Center: 3rd floor lobby, 408-353-0197
Email us your questions: healthlibrary@stanfordhealthcare.org