What is Chemotherapy?
Chemotherapy is a drug treatment, administered to cancer patients, used to destroy (and stop the spread of) rapidly reproducing cancer cells.
Not all cases receive the same drug treatment - different cancer cells respond to different combinations of drugs. The treatment for Chemotherapy is associated with some side effects, but the latest technological advances in the field makes modern chemotherapy cause only minor problem.
Why Chemotherapy?
Chemotherapy can be prescribed for treatment for various instances of killing cancer cells. Usually, the chemotherapy drugs are administered only when the cancer cells are spread across the body. This is due to the fact that the chemotherapy drugs are usually injected into the blood and they travel around the body and might harm the cancer look-a-like cells as well. This is the reason why Radiotherapy, which uses radiation to destroy cancer cells, is preferred for destroying cancer cells concentrated in a particular part of the body.
Chemotherapy and Side Effects
Cancer cells are identified by their nature of rapid reproduction, i.e, they grow very fast and divide fast. The chemotherapy drugs, intended to kill cancer cells, might also affect other cells with a similar property. This is the reason why there are a few side effects when undergoing the chemotherapy treatment. The latest advancements in biotechnology are making it possible to develop drugs that identify the cancer cells more accurately and thus reducing the side effects.
Some of the fast-growing or fast-dividing cells that might become targets for chemotherapy are given below:
- The cells in the hair follicles: This is the reason why cancer treatment is often associated with hair loss. But the hair lost during this process does grow back once treatment has ended.
(Read more: Coping with the Chemotherapy related Hair Loss )
- The cells in the stomach and bowel lining: When the drugs act on these cells, it might lead to nausea and diarrhoea. However, doctors prescribe supplement drugs to control this. Another helpful suggestion will be to time the meals properly to avoid full stomach when the drugs take effect.
- The Blood Cells: In some cases, the blood cells will also get affected. The red cells carry oxygen to keep other cells alive and the white cells help keep the infections away. This might lead the patients to be more prone to infections and find them harder to fight off. But the hospitals will ensure that the blood levels are monitored and take appropriate corrective actions.
- Other side effects include feelings of lower energy levels and extreme fatigue.
Chemotherapy drugs can also affect the fertility of both men and women.
Recent advancements in identifying the cancer cells precisely help the medical practitioners to administer chemotherapy with minimal side effects and prescribe appropriate drugs that nullify the side effects that arise during the treatment.
This information is provided for general understanding of the subject only. Always consult your doctor for a more specific solution and follow the procedures stated by your doctor.
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