Cancer Treatment Modalities and Informed Consent
When a person’s cancer is treated using only one treatment modality, this is called monotherapy or single-modality therapy. When more than one treatment modality is used, the term is combination therapy or multimodality therapy. Combination therapies can be administered at the same time (simultaneously), one after the other (sequentially), or in alternating cycles. When more than one treatment is administered simultaneously, the specialists involved must coordinate and schedule the treatments carefully. In one common sequential treatment, either surgery or radiation therapy is used first, to remove or shrink the tumor mass. This is followed by chemotherapy to treat any cells that may have metastasized.