Chemotherapy involves the use of potent drugs to fight cancer systemically, that is, throughout a patient's body. Such treatment may be given on an inpatient or outpatient basis. Chemotherapy is often used in combination with surgery or radiation therapy to eradicate cancer cells that have migrated to other parts of the body from the original tumor site. These metastases, as they are called, may be too small to be diagnosed with existing technology immediately after surgery or radiation therapy, but if left alone they nonetheless can grow into secondary tumors.
The chemical agents that are lumped together under the general term chemotherapy actually represent distinct categories of drugs that affect cell growth in different ways and at different stages. This is why two or more chemotherapy drugs are often given in combination - one may affect cancer cell at the division phase or another at the resting phase more. Combination of chemotherapy drugs also lessens the chance of cancer cells developing resistance to a cancer fighting drug.
Because cancer cells are similar to normal cells, and because chemotherapy drugs are taken systemically, the drugs also affect many healthy cells causing unwanted side effects. These include hair loss, nausea and vomiting, sores in the mouth, anemia and diarrhea. However, in recent years great strides have been made in lessening these side effects, particularly nausea.
At Medical Consultants we closely monitor our chemotherapy patients, we have had good success with minimizing side effects while at the same time maximizing the effectiveness of the treatment.
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