How do you know if cancer treatment worked?

The patient was a young looking 74-year-old woman, accompanied by her husband. She was not exactly sure why she was seeing me and nodded as I explained that I see all women with anal or rectal cancer who are being treated with radiation therapy. I explained that we recommend that these patients use vaginal dilators to improve elasticity after radiation in the pelvic region, and my meeting with her was an opportunity for me to show her the dilators, educate her about the reasons for their use, and answer any questions she may have. “Oh, no thanks, my dear,” she began, “I’ve no need for those. We’re not sexually active, and I’ve had a hysterectomy, and my family physician says I don’t need a Pap anymore.” With that, I started to get up from my chair with my hand extended to shake hers and end our meeting. “Can I ask you something?” she said, still sitting in the chair and not going anywhere just yet. I nodded my assent. “Are you a chemo person or a radiation person?” I paused — this was a question that sounded like there was something else going on. I responded that I was neither a chemo nor a radiation person but that if she had any questions, I could probably direct her to someone who could answer her questions. “How will I know if the treatment is working?” She went on to explain that she was almost finished with six weeks of radiation therapy on top of the chemotherapy that she had before that. Her treating team was now talking about more c...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Tags: Conditions Cancer Source Type: blogs