What is
chemotherapy?
Chemotherapy is the use of medications to treat cancer. It has
played a major role in cancer treatment for half a century. Years
of testing and research have proved chemotherapy to be an
effective cancer treatment. It may be the only treatment, or it
may be used in combination with other treatments, such as surgery
and radiation therapy.
Chemotherapy works by killing rapidly dividing cells. These cells
include cancer cells, which continuously divide to form more
cells, and healthy cells that divide quickly, such as those in the
bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract, reproductive system and hair
follicles. Healthy cells usually recover shortly after
chemotherapy is complete.
What is chemotherapy used for?
The main advantages of chemotherapy are that unlike radiation,
which treats only the area of the body exposed to the radiation,
chemotherapy treats the entire body. As a result, any cells that
may have escaped from the original cancer are treated.
Depending on what type of cancer a person has, the doctor may use
chemotherapy to:
* Eliminate all cancer cells in the body, even when cancer is
widespread
* Prolong the life by controlling cancer growth and spread
* Relieve symptoms and enhance the quality of life
In some cases, chemotherapy may be the only treatment. But more
often, it is used in conjunction with other treatments, such as
surgery, radiation or a bone marrow transplant, to improve
results. For example:
Neoadjuvant therapy: The goal of neoadjuvant therapy is to reduce
the size of a tumour before surgery or radiation therapy.
Adjuvant therapy: This is given after surgery or radiation. The
goal of adjuvant therapy is to eliminate any cancer cells that
might linger in the body after earlier treatments.
What are the types of chemotherapy?
Chemotherapy may not be limited to a single drug. Most
chemotherapy is given as a combination of drugs that work together
to kill cancer cells. Combining drugs that have different actions
at the cellular level may help destroy a greater number of cancer
cells and might reduce the risk of cancer developing resistance to
one particular drug. The doctor will recommend drug combinations
that have been tested in people with similar conditions and have
been shown to have some effect against the particular type of
cancer.
What chemical the doctor recommends is generally based on the
type, stage and grade of the cancer, as well as the person's age,
general health and willingness to tolerate certain temporary side
effects.
Some types of chemotherapy medications commonly used to treat
cancer include:
1. Alkylating agents: These medications interfere with the growth
of cancer cells by blocking the replication of DNA. Example:
Mechlorethamine
2. Antimetabolites: These drugs block the enzymes needed by cancer
cells to live and grow. Example: Methotrexate.
3. Anti-tumour antibiotics: These antibiotics are different from
those used to treat bacterial infections and interfere with DNA,
blocking certain enzymes and cell division and changing cell
membranes. Example: Doxorubicin
4. Mitotic inhibitors: These drugs inhibit cell division or hinder
certain enzymes necessary in the cell reproduction process.
Example: Etoposide and Vinorelbine
5. Nitrosoureas: These medications impede enzymes that repair DNA.
Example: Cisplatin and Cisplatinum.
How is chemotherapy given?
One usually receives chemotherapy in cycles, depending on the
condition and the type of drugs used. Cycles may include taking
the drugs daily, weekly or monthly for a few months or several
months, with a recovery period after each treatment. Recovery
period allows the body to rest and produce new, healthy cells.
Chemotherapy drugs can be taken in a number of forms. The treating
doctor determines what form(s) to use primarily based on what type
of cancer a person has and what drug(s) will best treat the
cancer. Chemotherapy is given through the following methods:
1. Intravenous (IV): Chemotherapy is injected into a vein, using a
needle inserted through the skin. This allows rapid distribution
of the chemotherapy throughout the body.
2. Oral: The patient swallows this kind of chemotherapy as a pill.
3. Topical: This type of drug is applied to the skin to treat
localised skin cancers.
4. Injection: The doctor injects the drug directly into the muscle
using a needle on the skin or into a cancerous area on the skin.
Chemotherapy medications, regardless of how they're given,
generally travel in the bloodstream and throughout the body. The
intravenous route is the most common, allowing chemotherapy drugs
to spread quickly through the system. In cases where the doctor
wants to direct chemotherapy to a more confined area, for example,
to ensure a tumour is exposed to more of the drug, he may insert a
catheter directly into that area or into a blood vessel supplying
the tumour.
What are the various side effects of chemotherapy?
Since chemotherapy drugs can affect healthy cells, one of their
disadvantages is that the person may experience side effects, some
temporary and some long term. Not every drug will cause every side
effect. The treating doctor can tell what to expect from the
drugs.
Temporary side effects might include:
* Hair loss
* Dry mouth
* Mouth sores (stomatitis)
* Difficult or painful swallowing (oesophagitis)
* Nausea
* Vomiting
* Diarrhoea
* Constipation
* Fatigue
* Bleeding
* Susceptibility to infection
* Infertility
* Loss of appetite
* Changes in the way food tastes
* Cognitive impairment, sometimes referred to as chemo brain
* Liver damage
How long these temporary side effects last, depends on what drug(s)
are being taken and for how long. Most side effects subside
shortly after the chemotherapy treatment is stopped. Most
short-term side effects can be minimised with medication. For
example, the doctor can give medications to help relieve nausea or
build up the blood counts. One must always tell the doctor if one
is uncomfortable with a side effect. If the side effects are more
than one is willing to endure, one can change treatments.
As people with cancer are living longer after treatment, doctors
have discovered that some treatments cause long-lasting side
effects or side effects that become apparent long after treatment
ends. These long-term side effects are rare. Before one begins
treatment, one must discuss with the doctor about the long-term
effects. Some chemotherapy drugs can cause:
* Organ damage, including problems with heart, lungs and kidneys
* Nerve damage
* Blood in urine (haemorrhagic cystitis)
* Another cancer, including Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's
lymphoma, leukaemia and some tumours
* Infertility
The doctor can explain about the signs and symptoms to watch for
after the treatment. Knowing what long-term side effects to watch
for can help one stay healthy after treatment.
While beginning chemotherapy can be frightening, one must know
that new medications are helping reduce unpleasant side effects.
But chemotherapy will always cause some significant side effects.
One must keep in mind that many people with cancer are living
longer than ever - thanks partly to chemotherapy.
Hair Loss due to
Chemotherapy
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