Side Effects of Chemotherapy

The treatment of cancer has become a very specialized field of medicine over the last 25-30 years. There are many methods (modalities) of treatment that are available to treat cancers. Cancers can be treated with surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, hormonal therapies, and biologic and immune mediated therapies. This portion of our web site is devoted to introducing you to CHEMOTHERAPY.

Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancers with specific medications in order to destroy cancer cells. All cells in the body grow and die in a controlled way. Cancer cells frequently grow in an uncontrolled fashion and do not die when they should. Anticancer drugs are designed to stop these cells from growing and multiplying. Unfortunately, anticancer drugs can frequently harm other (normal) dividing cells in the body. It is the harm that these normal cells suffer that result in the side effects of chemotherapy. Researchers and clinical Oncologists (physicians who treat cancer patients) have found that cancers can frequently be treated more effectively and with fewer side effects to the patient by using multiple chemotherapy drugs at one time. This is called combination chemotherapy.

Chemotherapy is one of the most powerful tools we have to fight cancer. It kills cancer cells in the whole body by interfering with cell growth and division, but not all chemotherapy is alike and not all breast cancer patients are alike. Because you are unique as a breast cancer patient, your chemotherapy regimen will be tailored to your particular needs.

Your doctor will discuss his/her recommendation for the type of chemotherapy that is right for you. There are a variety of chemotherapy treatments, so it's always good to know why the recommended one is right for you.

There are two ways that doctors use chemotherapy to treat cancer:

• Adjuvant – Used in conjunction with, or in addition to, surgery and/or radiation.
• Neo-adjuvant – Given before surgery to shrink the tumor so that surgery will be less extensive.
  

Chemotherapy is given in one of the following ways:

• Intravenously (I.V.) – an injection in a vein
• By Central Access Device (also called a vascular device or central line) – a port is placed in the body where the drug will be injected to avoid damaging healthy tissue with toxic chemotherapy drugs
  
• Orally (P.O.) – medication taken by swallowing a pill
  
  

How often you take chemotherapy depends on the type of breast cancer you have and the type of chemotherapy you're taking. How long you take chemo depends on how your body reacts and the length of time that research has shown to produce the most effective results.

What is right for me?

The specific chemotherapy that is chosen for each patient is based upon what type of a tumor is being treated. Although some (chemotherapy) medications may be used in patients with different types of tumors, the combinations of medications for different tumors are usually different. The science of chemotherapy is so advanced that different groups of chemotherapy may even be used for patients who have different stages of the same tumor.

You and your health care team will work together to determine the chemotherapy treatment that is right for you. Below are some questions to consider asking your doctor. They can help you to learn more about your treatment options.

• Why do you recommend this treatment or procedure? How might it help me?
  
• What are the side effects? Which ones require immediate medical attention?
  
• How long does it take? How often do I receive it? How is it given?
• Are there more or less aggressive options available?
• How will each of these options affect my quality of life? Will I be able to do the things I enjoy? Can I work? Take care of my kids? Go on vacation?
• What lifestyle changes would you recommend I consider during my treatment?
• How and when will the effectiveness of this treatment be evaluated?
• What else do I need to know about this treatment?
  

Many books have been written that describe the side effects and methods of treating the side effects of chemotherapy. We hope that the Internet based links that we have provided on this page are informative and answer many of your questions about chemotherapy. Always ask your Oncologist (cancer specialist) and Oncology nurses any questions that concern you. We suggest that you keep notebooks to write down your questions so that you are sure that all of your questions are answered.

Please browse through the following links :

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/chemotherapy-and-you
http://www.nlm.nih.gov
http://www.cancerbacup.org.uk/Treatments/Chemotherapy/Chemotherapy
http://www.oncologychannel.com/chemotherapy/