Cancer Treatments

At TEONCOLOGY, we believe that a successful cancer recovery journey starts with personalized care tailored to individual needs. Our consultation service involves a comprehensive evaluation of your medical history, symptoms and concerns, followed by a detailed discussion of your diagnosis, stage, and treatment options. We understand that a cancer diagnosis can be overwhelming, and our goal is to empower you with knowledge and support to make informed decisions about your care. You don't have to face this alone - let TEONCOLOGY be there for you every step of the way.

Chemotherapy acts as a powerful tool in the fight against cancer. It is an integral treatment that can help destroy cancer cells throughout the body and stop or slow down their growth. The team led by Dr Teo Yin Keong administers this treatment either orally, intravenously or through injections, while closely monitoring our patients for any side effects. We combine chemotherapy with other treatment modalities such as surgery or radiation therapy to deliver the most comprehensive care to our patients.

Targeted therapy is a type of cancer treatment that uses drugs designed to "target" cancer cells, without affecting normal cells. Targeted therapy often works by 

• blocking cancer cells' growth signals

• altering proteins within cancer cells that cause those cells to die

• preventing new blood vessels from forming, which cuts off blood supply to your tumor 

• delivering toxins that kill cancer cells without harming healthy cells

• telling your immune system to attack the cancer cells.

With fewer side effects compared to traditional treatments, targeted therapy provides the potential for more effective and precise cancer treatment.

Immunotherapy uses our immune system to fight cancer. It works by strengthening the immune system to recognise and attack cancer cells. Immunotherapy can be administered using various methods, including immune checkpoint inhibitors, monoclonal antibodies, vaccines, CAR-T cell therapy and cytokines. With improved survival rates and minimal side effects, immunotherapy has revolutionised cancer treatment.  Immunotherapy may work when other treatments don’t. Some cancers (like skin cancer) don’t respond well to radiation or chemotherapy but start to go away after immunotherapy.

Hormone therapy is used to treat hormone-sensitive cancers such as breast, prostate, thyroid, and uterine cancer. Hormone therapy removes, blocks, or adds specific hormones to the body to disrupt cancer growth. Hormone therapy is used along with other types of cancer treatment, such as radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or surgery to achieve different outcomes:

• to shrink a tumor before surgery and/or radiation therapy (neoadjuvant therapy)

• to reduce the risk of cancer re-occurence after cancer treatments (adjuvant therapy)

• for cancer that has spread to other parts of the body (metastatic cancer)

Hormone therapy may also be used to help prevent or manage cancer side effects. Relieving side effects is an important part of cancer care and treatment in palliative care.

Radiation therapy is a cancer treatment that uses high doses of radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumours by damaging their DNA. Cancer cells whose DNA is damaged beyond repair stop dividing or die. When the damaged cells die, they are broken down and removed by the body. Radiation therapy can be delivered externally (external beam radiation) or internally (brachytherapy) depending on:

• the type of cancer

• the size of tumour

• the tumour's location in the body

• how close the tumour is to normal tissues that are sensitive to radiation

• your general health and medical history

• whether you will have other types of cancer treatment

• other factors, such as age & medical conditions

Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) uses advanced 3D or 4D imaging to precisely locate tumours and using highly focused radiation beam to send high doses of radiation to the area to be treated. This results in the least amount of damage to the healthy tissues around the area. 

SBRT is used to treat tumours in the lungs, spine, liver, neck, lymph nodes, soft tissues and other parts of the body. SBRT is used to treat both cancerous tumours and benign tumours (tumours that aren't cancerous). 

SBRT offers a highly effective treatment which usually requires only 1 to 5 sessions. 

Palliative care is an important part of cancer care. Sometimes called supportive care, it is recommended for all cancer patients from the time of diagnosis, through all stages of treatment, and after treatment is complete to address symptoms of the disease itself or side effects of its treatment. Palliative care is recommended for patients at any stage of a life-threatening or chronic illness. The intent is not to treat or cure your disease, but to ease any symptoms and side effects you are experiencing while preparing for, undergoing, and recovering from treatment as well as once treatment is over.

​

Palliative care also includes other sources of support to meet your emotional, spiritual, practical, and social needs with physical medicine and rehabilitation, anesthesiology, psychology, social work, radiology, and pain management. 

End of life care, also known as hospice care, focuses on the care, comfort and quality of life of a person with a serious illness who is approaching the end of life. Hospice care places a high value on dignity, respect and the wishes of the person who is ill. It aims to look after their medical, emotional, social, practical, psychological and spiritual needs, and the needs of the person's family and caregivers.