Cancer treatments

Stay close to your home and support system in the Monterey area while accessing advanced cancer treatments. Get care at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, where you’ll receive a personalized plan based on the expertise of many types of specialists. Expect the well-rounded support you need to achieve your best outcome.

Treatment options

Your care team will take your diagnosis, preferences, and other factors into account while planning your care. Your plan will include one or more of these types of treatments.

Cancer medications

You may receive:

• Biologic drugs – Work by specifically targeting cancer cells or stimulating your immune system to fight cancer
• Chemotherapy – Kills cancer cells anywhere in your body
• Hormonal therapy – Shrinks tumors by starving them of the hormones they need to grow

Your care team may give you medications intravenously (through a vein, also called IV or infusion therapy), or through an injection or pills. During IV treatment, your nurses will help you feel as comfortable as possible.

Radiation therapy

Radiation therapy uses high-energy waves of radiation to destroy cancer cells. You may receive this treatment in one or more ways:

• Externally – Uses a machine called a linear accelerator to send invisible, painless radiation beams into a tumor
• Internally (brachytherapy) – Places tiny, radioactive pellets in or near your tumor

No matter what type of radiation therapy your doctors recommend, trust them to protect healthy tissue and use as little radiation as possible, so you experience the fewest side effects.

Radiofrequency ablation

Radiofrequency ablation sends an electrical current to a tumor to destroy it. This minimally invasive procedure may offer you an alternative to surgery, especially if you have more than one tumor. Most likely, you’ll return to normal activities a day or two after treatment.

Surgery

Surgery takes a tumor out of your body. Sometimes, a surgeon also removes the organ or tissue the tumor is in to help stop cancer from coming back. Count on your surgeon to use the least invasive approach to your procedure, so you can recover as soon as possible.

Clinical trials

Clinical trials test promising new approaches to cancer care. At Community Hospital, you have access to clinical trials that you’d otherwise find only at academic medical centers. Ask your doctor if you qualify for a clinical trial, which may give you a treatment that’s not yet widely available.

Managing side effects

Tell your care team about any side effects you experience during cancer treatment. They can recommend services to help you feel better, such as:

• Pain management – Helps you feel more comfortable with less reliance on pain medication
• Palliative care – Works to reduce symptoms and improve quality of life
• Pastoral care – Provides the guidance of a chaplain experienced in health ministry
• Rehabilitation therapies – Restores strength and range of motion so you can better do daily tasks with less pain

Complementary medicine

Ask your care team for a referral to a local provider of massage therapy, acupuncture, or other complementary therapies that can help you relax and ease stress.

Support at every step

While battling cancer, you do best with complete support for your whole person — body, mind, and spirit. That’s why your cancer team includes professionals dedicated to guiding you through treatment and answering your questions. Turn to them and to our wide range of patient and caregiver resources for everything you need to live as well as possible during treatment.