If a drug causes you to have too many side effects, this can also change your treatment plan.Ĭhemotherapy can be given at a medical center or taken at home, depending on the specific drug. tumor size, its location, and if or where it has spread. Cancer stage is determined by the size and location of the tumor and whether or not the cancer has spread. The drugs, dose, and treatment schedule depend on many factors. You may receive a combination of drugs, because this sometimes works better than 1 drug by itself.
This type of doctor will prescribe your chemotherapy. A doctor who specializes in treating cancer with medication is called a medical oncologist. There are many drugs available to treat cancer. What factors determine a chemotherapy plan? Metastatic cancer is cancer that has spread to other parts of the body. Recurrent cancer is cancer that comes back after treatment. It can also be used to treat recurrent cancer and metastatic cancer. Chemotherapy used for these purposes is sometimes called "palliative chemotherapy."Ĭhemotherapy can be used to treat many types of cancers. In such settings, chemotherapy can extend survival, relieve cancer-related symptoms, and improve quality of life. Even when the cancer is not curable, chemotherapy can partially shrink tumors and prevent tumor growth and spread for various lengths of time. To slow the progression of cancer and relieve symptoms. Chemotherapy can be given after surgery or radiation therapy to destroy any remaining cancer cells. This can be called "neoadjuvant chemotherapy."Īfter other treatments. Chemotherapy can be given before surgery or radiation therapy to shrink tumors. This might be called "curative chemotherapy."īefore other treatments. Sometimes, the goal of chemotherapy treatment is to get rid of all the cancer and keep it from coming back. Some of the ways chemotherapy is used include:Īs the primary treatment.
Chemotherapy can be given alone or as a part of a treatment plan that includes different treatments. The goals of chemotherapy depend on your type of cancer and how far it has spread. This is why chemotherapy can cause side effects like hair loss and nausea. Cancer cells go through this process faster than normal cells, so chemotherapy has more of an effect on these fast-growing cells.īecause chemotherapy travels through the whole body, it can also damage healthy cells as they go through their normal cell cycle. All cells go through the cell cycle, which is how new cells are made. In general, drugs used for chemotherapy are powerful chemicals that treat cancer by attacking cells during specific parts of the cell cycle.
There are many different kinds of chemotherapy. This means it travels through the bloodstream and reaches all parts of the body. How does chemotherapy treat cancer?Ĭhemotherapy is a systemic medication. Learn more in other articles a bout what to expect when getting your chemotherapy treatments and the possible side effects of chemotherapy. This article will help you understand basic information about chemotherapy. Your doctor may refer to chemotherapy as standard chemotherapy, traditional chemotherapy, or cytotoxic chemotherapy. This type of cancer treatment works by keeping cancer cells from growing, dividing, and making more cells.Ĭhemotherapy can be used as a treatment for many different cancers.
Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to destroy cancer cells.
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