INTRODUCTION

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.

Chemotherapy is often used in combination with other therapies, such as surgery, radiation or hormone therapy.The use of combination therapy depends on

• The stage and type of cancer you have
• your overall health
• previous cancer treatments you have had
• the location of the cancer cells
• your personal treatment preferences

Chemotherapy has been proven to effectively attack cancer cells, but it can cause serious side effects that can severely impact your quality of life.

WHY CHEMOTHERAPY IS USED ?

Chemotherapy is primarily used to

• lower the total number of cancer cells in your body
• reduce the likelihood of cancer spread
• shrink tumor size
• reduce current symptoms

SIDE EFFECTS

• Fatigue
• Hair loss
• infection
• anemia
• nausea and vomiting
• appetite changes
• constipation
• diarrhea
• mouth,tongue and throat problems such as sores and with swallowing
• Peripheral neuropathy
• skin and nail changes
• weight changes mood changes
• fertility problems

PROCEDURE

Chemotherapy is typically given in pill form or directly into veins by injection or an IV.In addition to these two  forms, chemotherapy may also be administered in several other ways.

Chemotherapy delivery option include the following

• Chemotherapy can be delivered directly into the tumor ,depending on the tumors location
• Some skin cancers can be treated with chemotherapy creams
• Chemotherapy can be delivered to a specific part of the body through localized treatments such as directly into abdomen ,chest ,CNS or into bladder through urethra
• some types of chemotherapy can be taken by mouth through pills.
• liquid chemotherapy drugs can be delivered in single shots

GOALS

The goal of chemotherapy depends on the type of cancer , its location and persons unique circumstances.Based on the specific goal there are three main categories of chemotherapy treatment

• Curative: the therapy attempts to destroy all cancer cells so that a person is cancer free
• Adjuvant or neoadjuvant :The therapy  targets cancer cells remaining in the body after surgery or attempts to shrink cancerous growths prior to surgery
• Palliative:If the cancer cells cant be eliminated ,treatment can focus on relieving symptoms slowing cancer  growth

Chemotherapy is often just one part of a larger treatment plan.It may be given with other treatments like radiation surgery or other medication

For getting opinion from our network of hospitals visit www.mvtbooking.com or send email to query@gtsmeditour .com

Prepared by: Dr Sajna Hamza