Compare Treatment Options
Use cancer evidence to compare treatment options from cell regulation through treatment planning.
- Sign vs. symptom: Clinical data mixes measured findings with patient-reported history.
- Normal range comparison: Students need a reference range or baseline to tell whether a value is concerning.
Prerequisites are inferred: pending teacher review.
Re-learn the skill with worked practice and clear examples.
Compare treatments by two things: does it reach one spot or the whole body, and what side effects does it cause? Then pick the one that fits the cancer.
Use the table. A patient has cancer that has spread to several organs. Which treatment can reach cancer cells all over the body?
Approved| Treatment | How it reaches the cancer | Main side effects |
|---|---|---|
| Surgery | Local: cuts out the tumor in one spot | Pain and risk from the operation; only helps where it cuts |
| Radiation | Local: a beam aimed at one spot | Skin and tissue damage near the beam |
| Chemotherapy | Systemic: travels in the blood to the whole body | Hair loss, nausea, low blood counts (hits healthy fast-growing cells too) |
| Targeted therapy | Systemic but aimed at one marker on cancer cells | Fewer whole-body effects, but only works if the cancer has that marker |
- A.Surgery, because it removes the tumor
- B.Radiation, because the beam is strong
- C.Chemotherapy, because it is systemic and travels in the blood
- D.Surgery and radiation together
Show the worked solution ▾
Answer: C. Chemotherapy, because it is systemic and travels in the blood
- Step 1: Find the spread: The cancer is in several organs, not one spot, so a one-spot treatment can't reach it all.
- Step 2: Use the table's reach column: Surgery and radiation are listed as local. Chemotherapy is listed as systemic: it travels in the blood to the whole body.
Why it's right: Chemotherapy is systemic, so it reaches cancer cells throughout the body: the only choice that fits cancer that has spread.
- A: Surgery is local; it only treats the one spot it removes.
- B: Radiation is local; the beam only hits where it is aimed.
- D: Both of these are local and still can't reach cancer that has spread everywhere.
Aligned to BRE: compare treatment options · reading level ~grade 9
- In Unit 3.2 to 3.4 Treating Cancer, this skill turns class evidence into a result another person can check.
Fill these in as you work through the lesson.
- Local treatment (treats one spot only):
- Systemic treatment (travels through the whole body):
- Targeted therapy (aimed at a specific marker on cancer cells):
- Metastasis (cancer that has spread to other places):
- Side effect (harm a treatment causes besides killing cancer):
Surgery and radiation are treatments (one spot). Chemotherapy is because it travels through the whole body. If cancer has spread, you usually need a treatment.
- Name one local treatment and one systemic treatment.
- Why does chemotherapy cause hair loss and nausea but a targeted drug usually does not?
- If a cancer has spread to several organs, why won't surgery alone cure it?
A tumor sits in one spot in the breast and has NOT spread. Compare surgery and chemotherapy using the table, then say which fits this cancer and why.