It is better to treat cancer at any stage in a country with developed medicine. In this case, the treatment will not only be more effective, but also safer and less traumatic. You can undergo cancer treatment in Germany to take advantage of the latest advances in oncology.
Benefits of early-stage cancer treatment in Germany
Early stage cancer is usually curable. It does not seem to matter where the disease is treated. Doctors in any hospital in the world, even in countries with a low level of medicine, can do the job.
But in fact there is a difference, and it is huge. It is not enough to cure cancer. German doctors strive to do this in a way that preserves the patient’s high quality of life without worsening the oncological results of treatment.
Here are five examples of early-stage cancer treatments in Germany.
Endoscopic removal of the tumor. This involves complete preservation of the organ. Doctors insert instruments through the body’s natural openings and remove only the tumor. No skin incisions are required. Long rehabilitation is not required. For example, very early tumors of the bladder, cervix, colon, stomach, esophagus, larynx, lung and other organs that communicate with the environment through natural openings can be removed in this way.
Sentinel lymph node biopsy. This is most often done for early-stage breast cancer. In standard surgery, all lymph nodes that may have metastases are removed. However, this is a traumatic procedure that often leads to lymphedema in the arm. It is avoided in Germany. Doctors perform an intraoperative procedure in which a dye and a radioactive substance are injected into the tumor area. The tumor is then scanned with a gamma camera. After finding out which lymph nodes receive lymph from the tumor, doctors remove only these 2-3 nodes and examine them for cancer cells. If there are no metastases in the sentinel lymph nodes, it means that malignant cells have not yet spread to more distant nodes. Therefore, there is no point in lymphodissection. This stage of the surgery is not performed and the woman can avoid complications.
Resection instead of ectomy. Simply put, partial removal of an organ instead of complete removal. For example, doctors may remove only part of a kidney, part of a stomach, or part of a bladder, while in countries with poor medical care, they may prefer to remove the entire organ. Resection is technically more difficult than complete removal of an organ, but it provides a better quality of life for the patient after surgery.
Laparoscopy and thoracoscopy. Minimally invasive “manual” or robotic surgery is used in the early stages of many cancers, including colorectal, pancreatic, lung, kidney, adrenal and prostate cancer. Short incision surgery is no less effective than open surgery, but only on one condition: it is performed by an experienced team of surgeons who perform dozens of such surgeries every year.
Curing cancer without surgery. This is possible for some types of cancer. For example, prostate cancer can be cured in Germany with very precise remote radiation or brachytherapy, and some specialized centers use high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) andCuring cancer without surgery. This is possible for some types of cancer. For example, prostate cancer can be cured in Germany with very precise remote radiation or brachytherapy, and some specialized centers use high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) and irreversible electroporation (NanoKnife).
Benefits of late-stage cancer treatment in Germany
Many patients come to German cancer hospitals with late-stage cancer. In countries with a low level of medical care, these patients are often limited to palliative and symptomatic treatment. But if you are treated abroad, you can expect good results even with stage 4 cancer. Although the advanced stage of cancer is usually incurable, the disease can be controlled for many years.
In addition, the field of oncology is evolving rapidly. It is possible that new techniques will emerge in the coming years to help cure cancer.
Here are five examples of procedures and surgeries used by cancer centers in Germany to treat terminal cancer.
PSMA therapy of prostate cancer with Lutetium-177. This is the newest technique of systemic radiation therapy for metastatic prostate cancer. A drug is injected into the body, which itself finds all tumors, accumulates in them and destroys them with radiation. The selectivity is due to the drug’s ability to bind to PSMA, a prostate-specific membrane antigen. All tumors shrink as a result of treatment. A complete response is also possible: all tumors disappear. The medical literature describes cases in which prostate cancer did not recur at all after treatment with Lutetium-177, even with long-term follow-up of the patients.
Cytoreductive surgery and HIPEC. In the advanced stages of colon, ovarian, appendix, and some other cancers, doctors perform cytoreductive surgery: they remove all visible tumor foci in the abdominal cavity. And to destroy the remaining cancer cells that cannot be seen with the naked eye, surgeons wash the abdominal cavity with a heated solution of chemopreparations. The treatment has a five-year survival rate of up to 60%.
Combined operations. These include one-stage removal of tumors in different parts of the body. Good results can be achieved even in the presence of distant metastases.
Immunotherapy. The latest treatments are available in Germany, including anti-cancer vaccines, oncolytic viruses, CAR T-cell therapy, TIL therapy and other techniques.
Chemoembolization. Tiny spheres loaded with chemopreparations are used to block the lumen of the vessels feeding the tumor. This is a minimally invasive procedure performed from inside the vessels.
If you want to get treatment for cancer in a good German clinic, use the Booking Health service. Here you can find out prices, compare the cost of services in different medical centers, get advice from specialists and help in organizing your trip.
