Chemotherapy

What Is It?

Chemotherapy drugs are medicines used to kill cancer cells and to prevent cancer from spreading. These drugs are also called anti-cancer drugs or chemotherapeutic agents. There are more than 80 anti-cancer drugs available, with many more being studied. Each type of anti-cancer drug works in a slightly different way. In general, they all kill cancer cells, or interfere with the ability of cancer cells to divide and grow. Disrupting the growth of the cells can limit the size of cancerous tumors. It can also prevent cancer from spreading to other parts of the body, such as to the bone, brain, liver or lungs.

Anti-cancer drugs come in many different combinations, and people using them follow many different treatment schedules. Each person's chemotherapy plan depends on the cancer being treated and how far the cancer has spread. Most people receive anti-cancer drugs through a process called intravenous infusion. A bag filled with the liquid drug is attached to a tube that is inserted into a vein. The drug slowly "drips" into the patient's body. Other people get their anti-cancer drugs from injections or in pill form.

Chemotherapy drugs reach almost all parts of the body. This helps to kill cancer cells that have spread from the original site of the cancer growth. The brain and the testes usually are exposed only to very low concentrations of chemotherapy. Cancers in these areas may be treated differently. The bad news is that anti-cancer drugs attack more than just cancer cells. Normal, healthy cells are destroyed as well, especially cells lining the mouth, digestive tract and hair follicles, and the blood cells within bone marrow. This is why many people receiving chemotherapy suffer mouth sores and upset stomachs, lose their hair and feel weak.

What It's Used For

For some cancers, such as leukemia and multiple myeloma, chemotherapy is the primary form of treatment. For other cancers, chemotherapy is one part of a larger strategy that also involves radiation and/or surgery. Chemotherapy can destroy tumors or slow the growth of the cancer. Chemotherapy also can relieve symptoms and improve the quality of life for people with advanced cancer that cannot be destroyed or slowed.

Preparation

Each type of anti-cancer drug produces its own set of side effects, which may be more or less severe depending on your body's reaction to the drug. Always ask your doctor about the possible side effects of your anti-cancer treatment before chemotherapy begins.

How It's Done

Anti-cancer drugs can be given in a hospital, clinic, doctor's office or even at home. Sometimes the treatment is as easy as swallowing a pill; other times it requires an injection or a more complicated procedure in which the drugs are delivered slowly through intravenous infusion. People can receive chemotherapy daily, weekly or monthly. Sometimes there is a rest period between sessions. This allows the body to recover from side effects before the next wave of treatment begins.