About Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the use of drugs or medications to treat diseases. The term comes form two words that means “chemical” and “treatment” Most people have had some type of chemotherapy for illness during their lives, for example, taking penicillin for an infection, today, the word “chemotherapy is used most often to describe a method of cancer treatment. Cancer chemotherapy can consist of one drug or a group of drugs that work together. Chemotherapy has proven very effective in cancer treatment,. Many cancer patients were cured with the use of anticancer drugs, either alone or combined with radiation therapy and/or surgery.How do cancer drugs work?
Cancer cells grow in an uncontrolled manner, and they may
break away form there original site and spread to other parts of the body.
Chemotherapy may be given in several ways. The medicine may be injected into a
muscle. Or it may be given through the body to reach as many cancer cells as
possible. How fast the cells are destroyed may vary with different medicines
and different types of cancer. Anticancer drugs can affect normal tissues also,
because they act on any rapidly dividing cells in the body. The cells most
likely to be affected are those in the bone marrow, gastrointestinal (G”tract.
Reproductive system, and hair follicles Most normal cells are able to recover
quickly when the treatment is over.
How the Chemotherapy given?
The choice of anticancer drugs for each patient depends on
the type and location of the cancer, its stage or development , how it affects
normal body functions,and the general health of the patient. You may be treated
with one drug or several. The chemotherapy may be given in several ways.
Length and duration of treatment
The length and frequency of you chemotherapy depend on the
kind of cancer you have (stomach,skin,mouth) The drugs being used and how your body responds to
them. Chemotherapy may be given daily,weekly or monthly. Sometimes treatment is
given in an on and off cycle that includes rest periods so that your body has
chance to build healthy new cells and regain strength. You doctor should be
albe to estimate how long you r will be receiving chemotherapy. The planned
schedule may be adjusted, as time goes by, to suit your individual responses
and treatment needs.
