Types of cancer treatment: an overview

A friendly overview of the main cancer treatments: surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, stem cell transplant and CAR T-cell therapy, plus what the goal of treatment means.

7 min read · last reviewed September 30, 2026

There are many ways to treat cancer today, and new ones keep arriving. Your plan will depend on the type of cancer, where it is, its stage, any biomarkers, your general health and what matters most to you. Most people have more than one kind of treatment, sometimes at the same time and sometimes one after another.

This guide gives you a simple map. Your team will explain the details of your own plan.

Two big groups: local and whole-body treatments

It helps to think of cancer treatments in two groups:

• Local treatments treat one area of the body. Surgery and radiation therapy are local treatments.
• Whole-body (systemic) treatments travel through the bloodstream and can reach cancer cells almost anywhere. Chemotherapy, hormone therapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy are systemic treatments. They may be given as pills, injections or through a drip into a vein (an IV).

Surgery

Surgery removes the tumour, and often some healthy tissue around it and nearby lymph nodes. For many cancers found early, surgery is the main treatment. Surgery can also be used to find out the stage, or to ease symptoms such as a blockage.

Some operations are done through small cuts (keyhole or robotic surgery), which may mean a quicker recovery. Your surgeon will explain what to expect before and after.

Radiation therapy

Radiation therapy uses high-energy rays, like very strong X-rays, to damage cancer cells in one area. You can't see or feel the rays. Most people have short daily treatments over several days or weeks, lying on a table while a machine moves around them. Sometimes radiation is placed inside the body, close to the tumour.

Side effects usually affect only the area being treated. For example, the skin may get red and sore, and many people feel tired.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy ("chemo") uses medicines that kill cancer cells or stop them from dividing. It is usually given in cycles: a treatment day, then a rest period so your body can recover. Chemo can be given before surgery to shrink a tumour, after surgery to lower the chance of cancer coming back, or on its own.

Because chemo also affects healthy cells that divide quickly, it can cause side effects like tiredness, nausea, hair loss and low blood counts. Many side effects can be prevented or eased. See Managing side effects.

Important: Chemo can lower your white blood cells, which fight infection. A fever of 38.0 °C (100.4 °F) or higher during chemo is an emergency. Read Fever and when to get help.

Hormone therapy

Some cancers, such as many breast and prostate cancers, use hormones to grow. Hormone therapy (also called endocrine therapy) lowers hormone levels or blocks hormones from reaching the cancer cells. It is often a pill taken every day for several years, or a regular injection. Side effects can include hot flashes, tiredness and joint aches.

Targeted therapy

Targeted therapies are medicines that attack a specific feature of cancer cells, such as a protein or gene change that helps them grow. They only work if the cancer has that feature, which is why your team may test for biomarkers first. Some are pills; others are given by IV. Many are a type of medicine called a monoclonal antibody, a lab-made protein that locks onto a target on the cancer cell.

Side effects depend on the medicine. Skin rash, diarrhea and tiredness are common with some.

Immunotherapy

Your immune system normally finds and destroys damaged cells. Cancer can hide from it. Immunotherapy helps your own immune system find and attack the cancer.

The most common type is a checkpoint inhibitor. Checkpoints are "brakes" that stop the immune system from attacking the body's own cells. Cancer cells can use these brakes to hide. Checkpoint inhibitors release the brakes so immune cells can attack the cancer.

Because the immune system is more active, it can sometimes attack healthy organs too, such as the bowel, lungs, skin, liver or hormone glands. These side effects can start during treatment or months after it ends. Always report new symptoms early, and tell any doctor you see that you have had immunotherapy.

Stem cell transplant and CAR T-cell therapy

These treatments are mostly used for blood cancers, such as some leukemias, lymphomas and myeloma.

• Stem cell transplant (sometimes called a bone marrow transplant) lets doctors give very high doses of chemotherapy, sometimes with radiation. Afterward, healthy blood-forming stem cells are given back through a drip. They may be your own cells, collected earlier, or cells from a donor.
• CAR T-cell therapy is a type of immunotherapy. Some of your own immune cells (T cells) are collected and changed in a lab so they can find the cancer. Then they are given back to you. It is done at specialized centres, and the team watches closely for side effects.

What is the goal of treatment?

This is one of the most important questions you can ask, and it's okay to ask it plainly.

• Curative treatment aims to remove or destroy all of the cancer, so it does not come back.
• Treatment to control cancer aims to shrink it or stop it growing for as long as possible. Some people live for years with cancer that is controlled, much like other long-term illnesses.
• Palliative treatment aims to ease symptoms, such as pain, and help you live as well as possible. Radiation or chemotherapy can be used this way.

Goals can change over time. Many people find it helps to know the goal so they can weigh the benefits and side effects and make choices that fit their lives.

Palliative care is not the same as giving up. It is extra support from a team that specializes in symptoms, stress and planning. Cancer guidelines recommend it early, alongside treatment, for people with advanced cancer, because it helps people feel better.

Other treatments you may hear about

• Clinical trials test new treatments or new ways of using existing ones. See Clinical trials explained.
• Active surveillance means watching some slow-growing cancers closely and treating only if they change.
• Complementary therapies like massage, yoga or acupuncture may help with stress and symptoms. They don't replace cancer treatment. Tell your team before trying any herbal product or supplement, because some can affect how treatment works.

Something you can do today: Ask your team to draw or write down your treatment plan: which treatments, in what order, and for how long.

Questions to ask your care team

• What treatments do you recommend for me, and why?
• What is the goal of my treatment?
• In what order will I have treatments, and how long will they last?
• What side effects are most likely, and how will we manage them?
• Have biomarker tests been done? Would targeted therapy or immunotherapy help me?
• Is there a clinical trial I could join?
• Can I meet the palliative care team for extra support?

This article is general information, not medical advice. Talk with your health care team about your own situation. In an emergency, call 9-1-1 or your local emergency number.

In an emergency, call 9-1-1 or your local emergency number.

General information, not medical advice. It does not replace your own care team. If you think you or someone else is having a medical emergency, call 9-1-1 or your local emergency number. If you are in crisis or thinking about suicide, call or text 9-8-8 (Canada and the US).

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