Cancer treatments include chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted treatments and hormone treatments.
Starting your drug treatment video
This video will help explain and support you throughout your treatment. Your nursing treatment team will also use this information to support discussion at your appointments.
Cancer treatments
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy means using drugs to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy circulates throughout your body in the bloodstream so it can treat cancer cells almost anywhere in the body.
Chemotherapy kills cells that are in the process of splitting into two new cells. You usually have the drugs as an injection or drop into your bloodstream. But you might have them as a tablet that you swallow or as an injection under your skin. You might have just one drug or a combination of drugs.
Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy works by helping the immune system recognise and attack cancer cells.
There are different types of immunotherapy and they work in slightly different ways. The type you need depends on your type of cancer. You have immunotherapy either as a drip into your bloodstream or as an injection just under your skin.
Targeted cancer drugs
Targeted cancer drugs work by ‘targeting’ the differences in cancer cells that help them to survive and grow. There are different types of targeted treatments. The type you need depends on your cancer type as well as the changes in the cell.
Hormone therapy
Hormone therapy blocks or lowers the amount of hormones in your body to stop or slow down the growth of cancer. You have hormone therapy as a tablet that you swallow or as an injection into your muscle or just under your skin.
Accessing your cancer treatment
You may be treated at one of our hospital sites or on our mobile cancer care unit, that brings treatment closer to your home. You can find out more about our mobile cancer care unit here: Mobile Cancer Treatment – United Lincolnshire Hospitals (ulh.nhs.uk)
For disabled access information about the chemotherapy suite at Pilgrim Hospital, Boston please see our AccessAble accessibility guide.
For disabled access information about the chemotherapy suite at Lincoln County Hospital please see our AccessAble accessibility guide.