All Cancer treatment options

Cancer treatment is not one single thing. It is a broad field that includes a host of conventional and alternative treatments aiming to cure, control, or palliate the disease, as well as a wide range of complementary therapies and strategies that may help patients cope better with treatment and, in some cases, potentially improve outcomes and survival.

This page provides an overview of the cancer treatment options patients should know about. The goal is not to reduce cancer treatment to simple formulas, but to make a complex landscape easier to understand.

The four types of treatment

Conventional Treatments
The only treatments aimed at eliminating cancer that are offered by state-run cancer clinics and hospitals in Ireland and many other countries.
See Conventional Treatments

Alternative Treatments
While Alternative cancer treatments are generally used in place of Conventional treatments such as chemo and radiation, some are now becoming standard of care. (i.e. High Intensity Focused Ultrasound and Mistletoe Therapy).

Alternative treatments offer the only hope for some patients, especially those for whom conventional treatments have failed to offer any benefit.
See Alternative Treatments

Complementary Therapies
A range of therapies, products, and strategies that are used in addition to conventional or alternative treatments.
See Complementary Therapies

Integrative Treatments
Integrative medicine is a total approach to care that combines conventional medical treatment with the complementary and alternative practices that have been shown to be safe and effective. Offered by private clinics outside Ireland.
See Integrative Treatments

See also:
Cancer Tests
Questions to ask about your proposed treatment

Last updated January 2026