400981 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Laser Coagulation, Alternative Cancer Treatments, Alternative Medicine

• School: UWS
• Department: University of Western Sydney
• Course: 400981
• Professor: unknown

Document Summary

Laser therapy uses high-intensity light to treat cancer by shrinking or destroying tumours or precancerous growths. Lasers are most commonly used to treat superficial cancers that are on the surface of the body or the lining of internal organs. It is used to treat basal cell skin cancer and the very early stages of others like cervical, penile, vaginal, vulvar, and non-small cell lung cancer. It is often combined with other treatments, such as surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy. Laser induced interstitial thermotherapy (litt), or interstitial laser photocoagulation, uses lasers to treat some cancers using hyperthermia, which uses heat to shrink tumours by damaging or killing cancer cells. Laser are more precise than surgery and cause less damage, pain, bleeding, swelling, and scarring. A disadvantage is surgeons must have specialized training. It may be more expensive than other treatments. complementary and alternative cancer treatments are a diverse group of therapies, practices and products that are not part of conventional medicine.