Clinics for the treatment of oncological

What are the modern methods of diagnosis and treatment of oncological diseases abroad?

Diagnostics

• Ultrasound-the primary diagnostic method for many tumors, allows you to suspect a malignant neoplasm and find out its size;
• X-ray is also a method of primary diagnosis, malignant tumors are often accidental findings when performing an X-ray for another reason;
• Mammography is a radiation method that is used for screening the breast and for imaging a breast tumor if it is present;
• CT with intravenous contrast-usually performed in 3 areas (abdominal cavity, chest and pelvis, sometimes if necessary, performed and brain CT) — gives a complete picture of the size and location of the tumor and the presence of metastases in other organs or lymph nodes;
• MRI with intravenous contrast-performs the same function as CT, but better
  visualizes bone and nerve structures, also gives more accurate information about the involvement of blood vessels in the process, so it can be prescribed together with CT, but MRI is usually performed only for the affected area;
• PET-CT of the whole body-is performed to search for metastases in atypical
  places, this is relatively often used in foreign clinics compared to domestic ones;
• Scintigraphy — a radiation method that allows you to determine metastases in the bones;
• A biopsy is the taking of a part of the tumor material to study and establish an
  oncological diagnosis, as well as to determine the properties of the tumor. After that, the prognosis and treatment plan become clear. At the same time, the taken material is necessarily studied under a microscope, but in most cases in foreign clinics it is also studied for specific mutations and other features of the tumor for the purpose of specific therapy;
• Dermatoscopy-examination of the skin at high magnification that allows you to reliably assume the presence of malignant formations on the surface of the skin.

Types of biopsy:

• Cytological – when cells are taken to establish a diagnosis by taking a very small amount of material or scraping;
• Histological — when a piece of tissue is taken to establish the diagnosis;
• The oncological diagnosis is made only on the basis of the biopsy result.

Treatment

Surgical method

The main method of treatment of most malignancies is surgical. Surgical treatment can be performed:

• In an open way;
• Laparoscopically-through several small incisions in the abdominal cavity;
• Thoracoscopic — through small incisions in the chest wall;
• Arthroscopically-through a small incision to access the joint;
• Endoscopically-through natural openings.

To remove a malignant neoplasm, it is important to remove the formation
completely, without leaving abnormal cells in the body, often in order to reduce the risk of re-occurrence of the disease, it is necessary to remove the organ completely, remove the lymph nodes or nearby blood vessels.

Chemotherapy

The second most important method is chemotherapy. It is necessary to reduce the risk of signs of the disease after surgical removal of the tumor, reduce the size of the tumor, and prevent the appearance and growth of metastases.

Radiation therapy

Radiation therapy-often used in combination with chemotherapy. It is very
effective for reducing the size of the tumor and reducing pain. However, there are limitations on the dosage of radiation therapy, which is relatively safe for the patient. For high-end linear accelerators, this dosage is higher.

Targeted therapy

Targeted therapies are drugs that target certain mutations or other molecular
features of a tumor. Such therapy is more effective and less toxic than non-specific treatment. However, in order for such therapy to be properly prescribed, it is usually necessary to conduct a molecular genetic study of the tumor material.

Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy is a therapy aimed at destroying tumor cells with the help of the patient`s own immunity. To prescribe such therapy, specific studies of the tumor are also required, since it is not effective in all cases.