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5 treatment settings, 2 with more than one named option. Each section lays out the options the standard of care names, what each is for, the trials behind them with their recorded results, the side effects and cautions on record, and questions to ask. Built from the cancer page's standard-of-care rows; nothing here is advice for your case.
Biopsy with immunohistochemistry and BRAF testing; skeletal survey or whole-body imaging, blood count, liver tests and abdominal ultrasound to exclude multisystem disease.
Histopathology means looking at cancer cells under a microscope, and immunohistochemistry stains them for specific proteins. Together they are still the foundation of every diagnosis.
MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves, with no ionising radiation, to picture soft tissue in finer contrast than CT, so it is the standard scan for brain tumours, prostate, rectal cancer staging, liver lesions and breast screening in high-risk women. It is slow, expensive and blurred by movement.
FDG PET is the standard PET scan. A radioactive sugar shows which tissues are burning glucose fast, which most cancers do.
Ultrasound uses sound waves to make live pictures; it is cheap, safe, and used to guide needles into lumps.
No trial record is attached to this row yet. The trials tab lists what is recruiting and the landmark trials for this cancer.
Add these to your appointment list, or take the full question set for this cancer.
Biopsy with curettage, with or without intralesional methylprednisolone; observation of healing; indomethacin for pain.
For low-risk prostate cancer, monitoring with PSA, MRI, and repeat biopsy instead of treating, because most such cancers never cause harm.
No trial record is attached to this row yet. The trials tab lists what is recruiting and the landmark trials for this cancer.
Add these to your appointment list, or take the full question set for this cancer.
Vinblastine and prednisone for twelve months (LCH-III schedule) to reduce reactivation and central nervous system risk.
Vinblastine is the vinca alkaloid in ABVD, the standard Hodgkin lymphoma regimen, and was formerly in the cisplatin combinations that first cured testicular cancer.
Averages across everyone diagnosed, often years ago. A median is the middle of a group: half the people counted lived longer than the figure shown, and some lived far longer. Your stage, subtype, age, fitness and the treatment you receive matter more than the average, and the numbers are improving quickly.
No side-effect rates or interaction flags are recorded for these options yet. The side-effect lookup and interaction checker cover the products that have them.
Add these to your appointment list, or take the full question set for this cancer.
Observation or topical corticosteroids; systemic therapy only for extensive symptomatic disease; regular review for progression to multisystem disease.
For low-risk prostate cancer, monitoring with PSA, MRI, and repeat biopsy instead of treating, because most such cancers never cause harm.
No trial record is attached to this row yet. The trials tab lists what is recruiting and the landmark trials for this cancer.
Add these to your appointment list, or take the full question set for this cancer.
Cytarabine or cladribine; smoking cessation for pulmonary disease; BRAF or MEK inhibitors (vemurafenib, dabrafenib-trametinib, cobimetinib) for refractory disease.
A one-week infusion that puts most people with hairy cell leukaemia into remission for years; also used in multiple sclerosis in tablet form.
Vemurafenib was the first BRAF inhibitor (2011); it shrank melanomas in weeks and proved that a single mutation could be drugged in a solid tumour.
Dabrafenib plus trametinib is the BRAF-plus-MEK pill combination, approved for BRAF V600E lung cancer and, since 2022, for any solid tumour with that mutation.
Cobimetinib is the MEK partner for vemurafenib, and the first drug approved for histiocytic neoplasms.
Pills that block the specific enzyme a cancer relies on. Imatinib in 2001 proved a cancer could be switched off by design.
No trial record is attached to this row yet. The trials tab lists what is recruiting and the landmark trials for this cancer.
| Side effect | Any grade | Grade 3+ |
|---|---|---|
| Arthralgia | 53% | - |
| Photosensitivity | 33% | - |
| Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma / keratoacanthoma · BRIM-3 vemurafenib arm | 24% | - |
Rates from the label or pivotal trial as recorded on the product page; each grade 3+ figure links to its source.
Add these to your appointment list, or take the full question set for this cancer.