Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy (chemo) is a type of treatment that includes a medication or combination of medications to treat cancer. The goal of chemo is to stop or slow the growth of cancer cells. Chemo is considered a systemic therapy. This means it may affect your entire body. Chemo medications attack rapidly growing cancer cells, but they can also affect healthy cells that grow rapidly. The effect of these medications on normal cells often causes chemo side effects. For example:
A number of blood cells that divide rapidly can be damaged along with cancer cells during chemo:
White blood cells help protect the body from infection. A low white blood cell count is known as neutropenia. If your white blood cell count gets too low, you could get an infection.
Red blood cells carry oxygen throughout your body. A low red blood cell count is known as anemia. Anemia can lead to fatigue, chest pain, and more serious complications.
Platelets are structures in the blood that help stop bleeding. A low platelet cell count is known as thrombocytopenia. A low platelet count can cause bruising and bleeding.
Hair follicles have cells that can be affected by chemo, leading to hair loss, also called alopecia.
Cells lining your stomach can also be affected by chemo. This can cause vomiting and diarrhea, and may be associated with nausea.
The good news is that many of these chemo side effects can be managed.
The goal of chemotherapy (chemo) is to kill cancer cells or slow cancer’s growth over time. Chemo is often given several times over weeks or months in what is known as a course of treatment. A course of treatment is made up of a series of treatment periods, called cycles. During a cycle, you may get chemo every day for one or more days. Since chemo also kills normal cells, these chemo days are followed by periods of rest when you receive no treatment. This rest lets your body recover and produce new healthy cells.
Your Chemo Regimen
Your doctor will create a plan, or regimen, that includes the type of chemo medications you will receive. The regimen also includes the medication dose and how often you will receive it. Your doctor will choose certain medications that can best fight your cancer. You may also receive medications that help support your body’s ability to better tolerate the chemo from start to finish. Talk to your doctor and care team about what you can do to help you meet your treatment goals.
How Chemo Is Given
Chemotherapy (chemo) treatment plans may use a single medication or a combination (or “cocktail”) of medications that can be delivered in more than one way. You may receive chemo in one or more of the following forms:
Injection. Types of injection include:
Subcutaneous (SQ): Chemo given as a shot just under the skin
Intramuscular (IM): Chemo given as a shot directly into a muscle
Intravenous (IV): Chemo given as a shot directly into a vein
IV infusion: Chemo medications are dripped through a tube that is attached to a needle and put into a vein
Oral: Chemo taken by mouth as a pill or liquid
Topical: A cream containing the chemo medication that is rubbed into the skin
Why Chemotherapy is given?
The goals of chemotherapy (chemo) may vary by each person’s situation. You may be starting chemo for one of these reasons:
To cure the cancer: When possible, chemo is used to eliminate cancer cells until they are no longer detected in your body.
To control the cancer: Chemo may be used to keep cancer from spreading, slow its growth, or destroy cancer cells that have spread to other parts of the body.
To ease cancer symptoms (sometimes called palliation): When cancer is in the advanced stage, chemo may be used to shrink cancer tumors that are causing pain or pressure.
If you are worried about hair loss with chemotherapy, we used the state of the art cold cap to prevent hair loss.