How Does Chemotherapy Help Cure Cancer?

Cancer is a disease that is dreaded by all and rightly so, because it is the second leading cause of mortality all over the world, second only to heart diseases. The reason why cancer almost always proves to be fatal is because it is generally not detected when it is in the curable stage.

Cancer has no specific symptoms. If detected on time, it can be cured completely, but the initial symptoms are very deceptive. They are similar to any other non cancerous disease and are often even treated thus by physicians.

There are a number of screening and diagnostic procedures available to detect cancer. Once detected in the early stages, it can be cured with the help of common treatments like chemotherapy, radiation therapy or hormone therapy along with surgical procedures. These are all successful in treating cancer provided it has not reached the advanced stage.

What is Chemotherapy? How does it work?

Chemotherapy involves the application of drugs to attack cancer cells, wherever they are in the body. Chemotherapy drugs are chemically engineered to identify and attack rapidly growing cells, which is a characteristic of cancerous cells. These drugs first check the growth of cancer cells and then destroy them.

The drugs reach the cancer cells via the blood stream and kill them at their site. The drugs may be administered orally (in tablet form), intravenously or intramuscularly (injected into a vein or muscle) or intrathecally (injected in the back).

Where and how often?

Chemotherapy can be administered in a hospital or a clinic or even at home. There are more than fifty anti-cancer drugs that are used for chemotherapy. The oncologists decide the right combination of drugs and the frequency of chemotherapy - which may be daily, weekly or monthly, depending on the type of drug, type of cancer and the body's response to the drug. The dose of chemotherapy varies according to the body weight of the patient and the toxicity of the drug.

Just a single drug might be sufficient for some patients whereas some may need a combination of many drugs. Still others may require other treatments like radiation and surgery as well.

What are the common side effects of chemotherapy?

The bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract, reproductive system and hair follicles all contain actively multiplying cells which may get affected by chemotherapy. This is the reason why almost all patients experience side effects in one form or the other. But these are all temporary and vary from patient to patient.

The most common side effect is vomiting. Doctors generally prescribe anti sickness medication for nausea.

Some people feel very tired because of chemotherapy while others continue with their normal routine. It is important to take rest if fatigue sets in.

Hair loss is also a common side effect which has more of a psychological impact than physical. The hair grows back once the treatment is completed.

Some a Chemotherapy drugs may cause mouth sores and ulcers. This can be tackled with the regular use of mouthwash.

It is also found that patients become anemic during chemotherapy. Blood transfusions may be needed in such cases.

The drugs tend to kill many normal cells including the white blood cells. This may weaken your immune system and you become prone to infections. Antibiotics must be taken even for minor illnesses such as flu or fever.