what kind of treatment is chemotherapy

What is chemotherapy and what does it do?

Chemotherapy is the use of chemical drugs to treat cancer in humans and animals. It is rarely used by itself and is typically combined with surgery, immunotherapy and radiotherapy. While chemotherapy is a highly effective treatment for many cancers, it can be improved.

What to expect during chemotherapy treatment?

Your First Chemotherapy Treatment: What to Expect

• Types of Chemotherapy. Chemotherapy can be administered via pills, capsules or medicated liquid. ...
• During Your First Chemotherapy Infusion. Plan to spend the day at the hospital or treatment center. ...
• After Chemotherapy. You’ll probably feel fine when you leave the infusion center. ...

What are the pros and cons of chemotherapy?

• Pancreatic cancer. For advanced pancreatic cancer, palliative chemotherapy can improve pain, physical function, and life expectancy. ...
• Non-small cell lung cancer. For non-small cell lung cancer, targeted biologic therapy used as palliative chemotherapy can improve pain, dyspnea, and cough.
• Breast cancer. ...

How bad is chemo treatment?

What to Do When Chemo Is Delayed

• Coming to Terms with Delayed Treatment. As soon as I got back to the car, I broke down. ...
• Handling Another Setback. When your neutrophil count decreases, you also need to give your bone marrow a chance to recover, get stronger, and produce more white blood cells.
• Finding a Solution. ...

Is chemotherapy a radiation?

Chemotherapy and radiation therapy are both treatments for cancer – the uncontrolled growth and spread of cells to surrounding tissues. Chemotherapy, or “chemo,” uses special drugs to shrink or kill cancer cells. Radiation therapy, or “radiation,” kills these cells with high-energy beams such as X-rays or protons.

Is chemotherapy a drug therapy?

Chemotherapy is an aggressive form of chemical drug therapy meant to destroy rapidly growing cells in the body.

What is the difference between cancer therapy and chemotherapy?

Answer: Radiation therapy and chemotherapy are both types of treatment for cancer. Chemotherapy uses medications that are designed to kill or shrink growing cancer cells. Radiation therapy kills cancer cells by using beams of high energy, for example, x-rays or protons.

At what stage of cancer is chemotherapy used?

Usually, chemotherapy may be used for all stages in most cancer types. Chemotherapy is a type of medicine or combination of medications that is used to treat or kill cancer cells. Adjuvant therapy: Chemotherapy may be used after surgery to reduce the risk of cancer recurrence (coming back).

Does all your hair fall out with chemo?

Most people think that chemotherapy drugs always cause hair loss. But some don't cause any hair loss at all or only slight thinning. Other types of chemotherapy may cause complete hair loss. It might include your eyelashes, eyebrows, underarm, leg and sometimes pubic hair.

Why do chemo patients take steroids?

Steroids are frequently given at the same time as these medications as a preventive measure. To help control chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting - As with allergic reactions, steroids are often used along with other medications to prevent or treat nausea.

Is chemo painful or radiation?

Chemotherapy is often given in combination with other chemotherapy drugs or with other treatments, such as targeted therapy, radiation therapy or immunotherapy. Does chemotherapy hurt? IV chemotherapy should not cause any pain while being administered.

Is chemo worse than radiation?

Since radiation therapy is focused on one area of your body, you may experience fewer side effects than with chemotherapy. However, it may still affect healthy cells in your body.

Is chemotherapy painful?

Why it happens: Chemotherapy may cause painful side effects like burning, numbness and tingling or shooting pains in your hands and feet, as well as mouth sores, headaches, muscle and stomach pain. Pain can be caused by the cancer itself or by the chemo.

Can cancer still spread while on chemo?

While chemotherapy is one of the oldest and most successful ways of treating cancer, it doesn't always work. So, yes, cancer can spread during chemotherapy. Spreading could mean the tumor keeps growing, or that the original tumor shrinks, but cancer metastasizes, forming tumors in other areas of the body.

Is Stage 4 always terminal?

Stage 4 cancer is not always terminal. It is usually advanced and requires more aggressive treatment. Terminal cancer refers to cancer that is not curable and eventually results in death. Some may refer to it as end stage cancer.

How many days after chemo do you feel better?

Most people say it takes 6 to 12 months after they finish chemotherapy before they truly feel like themselves again.

Why is chemotherapy used?

To prepare you for other treatments. Chemotherapy can be used to shrink a tumor so that other treatments, such as radiation and surgery, are possible. Doctors call this neoadjuvant therapy. To ease signs and symptoms. Chemotherapy may help relieve signs and symptoms of cancer by killing some of the cancer cells.

What is the purpose of chemotherapy?

After other treatments, to kill hidden cancer cells. Chemotherapy can be used after other treatments, such as surgery, to kill any cancer cells that might remain in the body. Doctors call this adjuvant therapy. To prepare you for other treatments. Chemotherapy can be used to shrink a tumor so that other treatments, such as radiation and surgery, ...

Why is chemo used for bone marrow transplant?

Chemotherapy is often used to prepare for a bone marrow transplant. Immune system disorders. Lower doses of chemotherapy drugs can help control an overactive immune system in certain diseases, such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

What is the best treatment for skin cancer?

Chemotherapy creams. Creams or gels containing chemotherapy drugs can be applied to the skin to treat certain types of skin cancer. Chemotherapy drugs used to treat one area of the body. Chemotherapy drugs can be given directly to one area of the body.

How is chemotherapy given?

Chemotherapy is most often given as an infusion into a vein (intravenously). The drugs can be given by inserting a tube with a needle into a vein in your arm or into a device in a vein in your chest.

What is the treatment for cancer?

Overview. Chemotherapy is a drug treatment that uses powerful chemicals to kill fast-growing cells in your body. Chemotherapy is most often used to treat cancer, since cancer cells grow and multiply much more quickly than most cells in the body. Many different chemotherapy drugs are available.

What doctor do you see during chemotherapy?

You'll meet with your cancer doctor (oncologist) regularly during chemotherapy treatment. Your oncologist will ask about any side effects you're experiencing, since many can be controlled. Depending on your situation, you may also undergo scans and other tests to monitor your cancer during chemotherapy treatment.

What is chemotherapy treatment?

Also called “chemo,” it’s one of several cancer treatments that use drugs against various types of cancer. Other drug therapies include: Hormone therapy, or drugs that prevent certain cancers from getting the hormones they need to grow.

How is chemotherapy used?

Chemotherapy is used in different ways: Adjuvant therapy: Chemotherapy destroys cancer cells after surgery or radiation therapy. Curative therapy: Chemotherapy is the only treatment. It cures the cancer. Neoadjuvant therapy: Chemotherapy shrinks a tumor before surgery or radiation therapy.

What is the treatment for cancer?

Chemotherapy . Chemotherapy is a common treatment for cancer. It uses drugs to destroy cancer cells. It may get paired with other cancer treatments such as radiation therapy or surgery. Chemotherapy is usually given intravenously (through a vein).

What is the most common cancer treatment?

Chemotherapy is one of the most common types of cancer treatment. Chemotherapy can work on its own or get paired with other treatments like radiation therapy or surgery. The type of chemotherapy you receive will depend on the location and stage of the cancer, as well as your overall health.

How long does chemo last?

The length of a chemotherapy treatment depends on the type of chemo you receive. It can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. Some people need a continuous infusion, which can last several days. A continuous infusion might get started at the hospital or infusion center and continued at home.

What type of cancer can chemo treat?

What types of cancer can chemotherapy treat? Chemotherapy can treat a wide range of cancers, including: Primary cancer, or cancer that has not spread to other areas of the body. Metastatic cancer, or cancer that has spread to other areas of the body.

How does chemo work?

Systemic chemo can get delivered: As an injection, or a shot. Intravenously, or through a vein as an “ infusion.”. Orally, as a pill or liquid that you swallow. Topically, as a cream that you rub into your skin.

Definition

Chemotherapy is a group of medications used to treat cancer and sometimes other conditions. In cancer, chemotherapy—oftentimes simply called "chemo"—works by killing cancer cells.

Conditions Treated

Chemotherapy is most often used to treat cancer, but chemo drugs may also be used to treat autoimmune diseases, in which the immune system is overactive and attacks healthy cells by mistake, including: 2

Who Administers Chemo

If your chemo is used to treat cancer, your oncologist, a doctor specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, will oversee your treatment. If chemo is used to treat other conditions, it will be administered by doctors who specialize in treating those conditions. For example, for lupus, it will be a rheumatologist. 3

Types

There are hundreds of types of chemotherapy, and your doctor will choose one or more based on the type, location, and stage of your cancer or other disease. Chemotherapy comes in a variety of forms that can be given: 4

Process

For chemotherapy given intravenously, the type and duration of your therapy and how you will receive your medication will be set when you are ready to start treatment. In the past, chemotherapy was administered in an inpatient setting, but now most therapies take place as outpatient treatments in special offices or facilities.

How to Prepare

Before you start chemotherapy, one of the first things you and your medical team will discuss is how you will get your chemotherapy medication. If it's oral, topical, or by way of injections, the medications can be taken fairly simply. If your chemotherapy is intravenous, you will need to visit a facility for regular infusions.

Side Effects

Not everyone experiences side effects from chemotherapy, and how severe the side effects are can vary from one person to the next. Even if you do have side effects, your medical team will likely prescribe additional medications to help you manage them.

How long does it last?

The doctor will make a plan with an individual that specifies when treatment sessions will occur and how many sessions the individual will need.

Blood tests

Blood tests assess a person’s health and ensure that they will be able to cope with possible side effects.

1. Nausea and vomiting

Nausea and vomiting are typical side effects. Doctors may prescribe antiemetic drugs to help reduce the symptoms.

2. Hair, nails, and skin

Chemotherapy drugs attack fast-growing cells, such as hair cells. This may cause some people to experience hair loss or cause their hair to become thin or brittle a few weeks after starting their treatment.

3. Fatigue

Fatigue is among the most frequent side effects of chemotherapy. A person may experience this most of the time or only after certain activities.

4. Hearing impairment

The toxins in some types of chemotherapy can affect the nervous system, leading to:

5. Infections

WBCs help protect the body from infection. Chemotherapy can cause the number of WBCs to fall, weakening the immune system and increasing the risk of infections.

What is the treatment for cancer?

Chemotherapy is the use of medicine to treat cancer. Chemotherapy kills cancer cells. It may be used to cure cancer, help keep it from spreading, or reduce symptoms. In some cases, people are treated with a single type of chemotherapy.

How do doctors choose chemotherapy?

Expand Section. The type and dose of chemotherapy your doctor gives you depends on many different things, including: The type of cancer you have. Where the cancer first showed up in your body. What the cancer cells look like under a microscope. Whether the cancer has spread. Your age and general health.

Why do cancer cells divide?

Others divide to repair damage in the body. Cancer occurs when something causes cells to divide and grow out of control. They keep growing to form a mass of cells, or tumor. Chemotherapy attacks dividing cells. This means that it is more likely to kill cancer cells than normal cells.

What is targeted therapy?

Targeted therapy and immunotherapy are other cancer treatments that use medicine to treat cancer. Standard chemotherapy works by killing cancer cells and some normal cells. Targeted treatment and immunotherapy zero in on specific targets (molecules) in or on cancer cells.

Does chemo cause hair loss?

Some types of chemotherapy damage the genetic material inside the cell that tells it how to copy or repair itself. Others types block chemicals the cell needs to divide. Some normal cells in the body divide often, such as hair and skin cells. These cells also may be killed by chemo. That is why it can cause side effects like hair loss.

What cancers are chemotherapy used for?

Type of chemotherapy. Cancer it may be used to treat. alkylating agents. multiple myeloma sarcoma. Hodgkin’s disease. lung cancer. breast cancer.

What is the treatment for cancer?

Cancer is a large group of conditions caused by the rapid division of abnormal cells. Chemotherapy is one treatment option that involves receiving medication that keeps cancer cells from spreading.

What are the main categories of chemotherapy drugs?

your personal preferences. Chemotherapy drugs are broadly classified based on their mode of action. The main categories include: alkylating agents. plant alkaloids (topoisomerase inhibitors and mitotic inhibitors) anti-metabolites. anti-tumor antibiotics.

What is the most common drug used for chemo?

According to the National Cancer Institute, alkylating agents are the most common category of drugs used in chemotherapy today. Alkylating agents damage the DNA of cancer cells and prevent them from dividing. Some of the drugs that fall into this category include: chlorambucil. cyclophosphamide.

How many chemotherapy drugs are approved for cancer?

One 2017 study. Trusted Source. showed that the FDA approved at least 150 chemotherapy drugs to treat cancer.

What are the different types of cancers that are treated with corticosteroids?

lung cancer. colorectal cancer. ovarian cancer. prostate cancer. Corticosteroids, or just steroids, are hormone-like drugs used in the treatment of many illnesses. They may be used during chemotherapy to directly treat cancer or help prevent gastric side effects and allergic reactions caused by other drugs.

What are antimetabolites used for?

Some drugs that fall in this category include: azacitidine. clofarabine. floxuridine. Anti-metabolites are often used to treat these cancers among others: breast cancer . leukemia.

How does chemo work?

Chemo is medicine used to shrink a tumor or kill cancer cells. Chemo can help cure cancer, prevent cancer from spreading, and relieve symptoms caused by cancer. You may get chemo at home, in your healthcare provider's office, in a clinic, or in a hospital. Chemo may be given to you 1 or more ways. The way that you get chemotherapy may depend on: 1 The type of cancer you have 2 Where the cancer is in your body 3 The type of chemo you need

How is intrapleural chemo used?

It may also be used to remove extra fluid from around your lung. Intrapleural chemo may be used to treat cancer in the lining of your lung or the fluid that surrounds your lung.

What is IA chemo?

This type of chemo stays in one part of your body. This help decrease your risk for side effects. It may be used to treat a tumor in your liver, arm, or leg. IA chemo may also be known as regional chemo.

Where is chemo injected?

IT chemo is injected into the fluid around your spine and brain. It may be given through a needle that is inserted into your spine or through a device in your brain. This device is called an Ommaya reservoir. It is inserted during a surgical procedure and stays in place for your entire treatment.

Can you refuse treatment?

You always have the right to refuse treatment. The above information is an educational aid only. It is not intended as medical advice for individual conditions or treatments. Talk to your doctor, nurse or pharmacist before following any medical regimen to see if it is safe and effective for you.

How Many Types of Chemotherapy Drugs Are There?

There are more than 100 types of chemotherapy drugs. The main types are: 2 3

How Chemotherapy Treats Cancer

Every time any new cell is formed, it goes through a usual process to become a fully functioning cell. The process involves a series of phases and is called the cell cycle. Cancer cells go through the same process. Chemotherapy drugs work by targeting cells at different phases of the cell cycle. 1

The Cancers That Chemotherapy Treats

Chemotherapy can treat a wide variety of cancers. Typically, chemotherapy is used when surgery is not an option or it's performed after surgery. Cancers that can be treated by chemotherapy include:

The Ways Chemotherapy Is Given to Patients

When receiving chemotherapy, the drugs may come in the following forms: 8

Side Effects of the Types of Chemotherapy

Nausea and vomiting are often the most common side effects. In some cases, they can be so severe that they lead to an inability to absorb nutrients, weight loss, low red blood cell count ( anemia ), fatigue, and an increased risk of sepsis, where the body's response to an infection damages its own tissues. 10

What to Expect From Treatment

If you are receiving chemotherapy in the hospital, you may want to bring some personal items with you, such as a book to read or a blanket to keep you warm. Having a friend or family member with you during your first treatment session will also be helpful for remembering important information and getting moral support.

Summary

Chemotherapy helps disrupt the process through which cancer cells make copies of themselves. There are more than 100 types of chemotherapy drugs, with the main types being alkylating agents, antimetabolites, anti-tumor antibiotics, topoisomerase inhibitors, and more. They target different parts of the cell replicating process.

What is the treatment for cancer?

Radiation Therapy . Radiation therapy is a type of cancer treatment that uses high doses of radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Learn about the types of radiation, why side effects happen, which ones you might have, and more.

What is immunotherapy for cancer?

Immunotherapy is a type of cancer treatment that helps your immune system fight cancer. This page covers the types of immunotherapy, how it is used against cancer, and what you can expect during treatment.

How many types of cancer treatments are there?

There are many types of cancer treatment. The types of treatment that you receive will depend on the type of cancer you have and how advanced it is. Some people with cancer will have only one treatment. But most people have a combination of treatments, such as surgery with chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy.

What is targeted therapy?

Targeted therapy is a type of cancer treatment that targets the changes in cancer cells that help them grow, divide, and spread. Learn how targeted therapy works against cancer and about common side effects that may occur.

What is the procedure that removes cancer from the body?

Surgery. When used to treat cancer, surgery is a procedure in which a surgeon removes cancer from your body. Learn the different ways that surgery is used against cancer and what you can expect before, during, and after surgery.

What is precision medicine?

Precision Medicine. Precision medicine helps doctors select treatments that are most likely to help patients based on a genetic understanding of their disease. Learn about the role precision medicine plays in cancer treatment, including how genetic changes in a person's cancer are identified and used to select treatments.

What is stem cell transplant?

Stem cell transplants are procedures that restore blood-forming stem cells in cancer patients who have had theirs destroyed by very high doses of chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Learn about the types of transplants, side effects that may occur, and how stem cell transplants are used in cancer treatment.

Overview

• Chemotherapy is a drug treatment that uses powerful chemicals to kill fast-growing cells in your body. Chemotherapy is most often used to treat cancer, since cancer cells grow and multiply much more quickly than most cells in the body. Many different chemotherapy drugs are available. Chemotherapy drugs can be used alone or in combination to treat a...

See more on mayoclinic.org

Why It's Done

Risks

How You Prepare

What You Can Expect

Results

Clinical Trials

Definition

• Chemotherapy is a group of medications used to treat cancer and sometimes other conditions. In cancer, chemotherapy—oftentimes simply called "chemo"—works by killing cancer cells. Each type of chemotherapy drug does this a little bit differently, at a different time in the cell's reproductive cycle. Some drugs may affect the genes as the cell is ab...

See more on verywellhealth.com

Conditions Treated

Who Administers Chemo

Types

Process

How to Prepare

Side Effects

Outcomes and Recovery

Summary

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