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EN Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy Overview
Chemotherapy is a drug treatment that uses powerful chemicals to kill fast-growing cells in your body. Chemotherapy is most often used to treat cancer, since cancer cells grow and multiply much more quickly than most cells in the body. Many different chemotherapy drugs are available. Chemotherapy drugs can be used alone or in combination to treat a wide variety of cancers.Though chemotherapy is an effective way to treat many types of cancer, chemotherapy treatment also carries a risk of side effects. Some chemotherapy side effects are mild and treatable, while others can cause serious complications.Chemotherapy is often used in combination with other therapies, such as surgery, radiation, or hormone therapy. The use of combination therapy depends on the stage and type of cancer you have, your overall health, previous cancer treatments you’ve had, the location of the cancer cells and your personal treatment preferences. It’s considered a systemic treatment, which means it affects the entire body.
Chemotherapy has been proven to effectively attack cancer cells, but it can cause serious side effects that can severely impact your quality of life. You should weigh these side effects against the risk of going untreated when deciding if chemotherapy is right for you.
Why chemotherapy is used?
Chemotherapy is primarily used to:● To lower the total number of cancer cells in your body
● To reduce the likelihood of cancer spreading
● To shrink tumor size
● To reduce current symptoms
If you’ve undergone surgery to remove a cancerous tumor, such as a lumpectomy for breast cancer, your oncologist may recommend chemotherapy to ensure that any lingering cancer cells are killed, as well. Chemotherapy is also used to prepare you for other treatments. It could be used to shrink a tumor so it can be surgically removed, or to prepare you for radiation therapy. In the case of late-stage cancer, chemotherapy may help relieve pain.
Besides treatment for cancer, chemotherapy may be used to prepare people with bone marrow diseases for a bone marrow stem cell treatment, and it may be used for immune system disorders. Doses much lower than those used to treat cancer can be used to help disorders in which the body’s immune system attacks healthy cells, like lupus or rheumatoid arthritis.Types of chemotherapy
Chemotherapy can be given in several ways. Your doctors will recommend the best type for you.The most common types are:● Chemotherapy given into a vein (intravenous chemotherapy) – this is usually done in hospital and involves medicine being given through a tube in a vein in your hand, arm or chest.
● Chemotherapy tablets (oral chemotherapy) – this usually involves taking a course of medicine at home, with regular check-ups in hospital.
You may be treated with one type of chemotherapy medicine or a combination of different types. You'll usually have several treatment sessions, which will typically be spread over the course of a few months.The goals of chemotherapy
The goals of chemotherapy depend on the type of cancer and how far it has spread. Sometimes, the goal of treatment is to get rid of all the cancer and keep it from coming back. If this is not possible, you might receive chemotherapy to delay or slow cancer growth. Delaying or slowing cancer growth with chemotherapy also helps manage symptoms caused by the cancer. Chemotherapy given with the goal of delaying cancer growth is sometimes called palliative chemotherapy.
Side effects of chemotherapy
As well as killing cancer cells, chemotherapy can damage some healthy cells in your body, such as blood cells, skin cells and cells in the stomach. This can cause a range of unpleasant side effects, such as:● Feeling tired most of the time
● Feeling and being sick
● Hair loss
● An increased risk of getting infections
● A sore mouth
● Dry, sore or itchy skin
● Diarrhoea or constipation
Many of these side effects can be treated or prevented and most, if not all, will pass after treatment stops.