Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is trying to destroy cancer cells by using drugs as the treatment method or may often be called taking "anticancer" drugs. The purpose of these drugs is to destroy cancer cells by stopping them from growing or multiplying.
Normal cells are controlled in the way they grow and die. When cancer occurs, some abnormal cells keep dividing and forming more cells outside of the bodies’ normal control. During this treatment, healthy cells, especially those that divide quickly may also be harmed. This harm to healthy cells is what causes many of the side effects and these cells usually repair themselves once treatment is completed.

Two or more drugs are often given together as some drugs work better by being combined together than being given alone, at the same time.  Other types of drugs including certain drugs that block the effects of the body's hormones may also be used when treating diseases such as leukemia. Treatment with substances that help to boost the body's own immune system against cancer, called biological therapy, may also be used by some doctors. Small amounts of these substances are usually made by your body to fight cancer and other diseases. They can be duplicated in a laboratory and then given to you as the patient to destroy cancer cells or change the way your body reacts to a tumor and may also help your body repair or make new cells to replace those destroyed by these anti-cancer drugs.

Chemotherapy may be used for different goals depending on the type and at what stage the cancer is at:

• As a cure for the cancer. When a patient remains free of the evidence of cancer cells the cancer is considered to be cured.
• Control of the cancer. To keep the cancer from spreading by slowing the growth and killing cells that may have spread from the original tumor to other parts of the body.
• As symptom relief. Helping patients live more comfortably by relieving symptoms such as pain that cancer may cause.

While a patient may only receive Chemotherapy as the treatment it is more often used in addition to surgery, radiation therapy and/or biological therapy to:

• Help shrink a tumor prior to surgery or radiation therapy. Commonly known as neo-adjuvant therapy.
• Help destroy any remaining cancer cells after a surgery and/or radiation therapy and is known as adjuvant chemo.
• Help to make biological and radiation therapy work better.
• Help stop cancer if it has spread to other parts of the body or reoccurs from the original tumor.

What does the future hold for Chemotherapy?

While there are at present many side effects to the treatment of cancers by drugs the alternative for many is unthinkable. Going forward the timing and use of the medications in treatment will continue to change and be improved upon. This will happen as millions of dollars are provided to scientists and other researchers to discover how various forms and stages of cancer react to optimized courses of Chemotherapy.