Although cancer is the leading cause of death in the country, technology makes possible for Specialists to have better ways to detect neoplasm and plan treatments. “Life expectancy was very poor before”

Today we can have a good chance for recovery with quality of life and treatments that do not cause much toxicity, says Milagros Rodríguez, Oncologist at Clínica Ricardo Palma

Personalized medicine

Dr. Mauricio León, Mastologist at Clínica Ricardo Palma, explains that there are four types of treatments against cancer. The classics are surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy

The latest is immunotherapy which does not attack the tumor directly but stimulates the cells of the body’s immune system to recognize the malignant cell and destroy it. “We send samples of cancer cells to a genetic sequencer in the United States to develop a genetic profile that will help us to decide the type of treatment and what drugs the patient needs,” says the Specialist

In this year alone, more than 100 new drugs based on immunotherapy have been produced. “It is extremely effective in breast, lung and kidney cancer, and also in other types of cancers. A great advance is that pills can cure chronic lymphocytic leukemia,” he emphasizes

X-ray technology in the 21st century

Radiotherapy destroys the malignant tissue but also affects healthy tissue. However, the latest advances have developed linear accelerators that focus radiation on very specific areas

A sample of these advances is SBRT therapy. Milagros Rodriguez, Radiotherapy Specialist at Clínica Ricardo Palma explains that this is not an invasive treatment and administers much more power of X-rays in very specific areas, with pinpoint accuracy. Thus, it considers the patient’s natural physiological movements, such as breathing, to always point in the right direction and administer the appropriate radiation dose. This is a technique capable of eradicating cancer in a safe and radical way

Dr. Milagros Rodriguez
Oncologist at Clínica Ricardo Palma