Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy involves the use of drugs—often called anticancer drugs—to treat cancer. Anticancer drugs work by destroying cancer cells, stopping them from growing or multiplying. Other types of drugs may also be used to treat cancer, including certain drugs that block the effect of hormones or that boost the body's natural defenses (immunotherapy).
Depending on the type of cancer and its stage of development, chemotherapy is used:
- to cure cancer
- to keep cancer from spreading
- to relieve symptoms
Sometimes, chemotherapy is the only therapy a patient receives, but it may also be used along with surgery and/or radiation therapy. For example, chemotherapy may be used to shrink a cancerous tumor before surgery or radiation therapy, or it may be used during radiation therapy or after surgery or radiation therapy to help destroy any remaining cancer cells.
At the MeritCare Roger Maris Cancer Center, chemotherapy and immunotherapy are usually given on an outpatient basis. How often and for how long chemotherapy is given depends on the kind of cancer, the goals of treatment, the drugs used and how a patient's body responds.
Chemotherapy may be administered daily, weekly or monthly. It may be given in a vein, through a catheter, by mouth (as a pill, capsule or liquid) or topically (with medication applied to the skin).
Before receiving any chemotherapy, patients are given detailed information about the chemotherapy drugs they will be receiving, any potential side effects, and what to do about the side effects. Recent advances in side-effect management have made these side effects much easier to control.
Chemotherapy's effectiveness is measured by frequent physical exams, blood tests, scans and x-rays. If you are receiving chemotherapy, your doctor may suggest you join a clinical trial for chemotherapy. These research studies test promising new cancer treatments.