Understanding Cancer and Chemotherapy
Cancer is a word that no one ever wants to hear. It’s a diagnosis that can be life-threatening, and the treatment options available can be just as frightening. One of the most common treatments for cancer is chemotherapy. While chemotherapy is an effective treatment option for cancer, it’s not without its side effects. In this article, we will explore what chemotherapy is and how oncology clinic uses it to recover cancer patients.
What is cancer?
Cancer begins when abnormal cells start to grow out of control. These abnormal cells can form tumours or spread to other body parts. Cancerous tumours are malignant and can spread and invade nearby tissues. Benign tumours, on the other hand, are non-cancerous and usually don’t spread.
How is chemotherapy used to treat cancer?
Chemotherapy refers to the use of any drug to treat any disease. But for most people, the word chemotherapy (or “chemotherapy”) means drugs used to treat cancer. It is essential to know that not all drugs or cancer treatment drugs work the same. Chemotherapy used to be the standard, but now many different types of cancer drugs are used. Conventional or standard chemotherapy is still the best way to treat. Many cancers. However, other types of medication may be more effective.
Chemotherapy is considered a systemic treatment because the drug is distributed throughout the body and can kill cancer cells that have spread (metastasized) to parts of the body away from the original (primary) tumour. This is different from treatments such as surgery or radiation therapy. Surgery removes tumours from the part of the body where the cancer is found, and radiation therapy targets specific areas of the body to kill or damage cancer cells. Such treatments are called topical treatments because they affect one part of the body.
Goals of chemotherapy treatment
If your doctor has recommended chemotherapy as an option to treat your cancer, it’s essential to understand the goals of treatment when making treatment decisions. There are three main goals for chemotherapy (chemo) in cancer treatment:
- Cure
- Control
- Palliation
Planning chemotherapy treatments
- You and your cancer doctor from oncology clinic will decide what drug or combination of drugs you will get. Cancer Specialist will choose the doses, how the drugs will be given, and how often and long you’ll get treatment. All these decisions will depend on the type of cancer, where it is, how big it is, if it’s spread to other body parts, and how it affects your normal body functions and overall health.
- Cancer can be treated with a single chemo drug, but often several drugs are used together. They may be given in a certain order or in certain combinations (called combination chemotherapy). Different drugs that work in different ways can work together to kill more cancer cells. This can also help lower the chance that cancer may become resistant to any one chemo drug.
- Sometimes chemo is the only treatment you need. More often, chemo is used with surgery, radiation therapy, or both. And it’s sometimes used with other drugs, such as targeted therapy, hormone therapy, or immunotherapy.
Conclusion
Cancer and chemotherapy can be confusing and scary topics, but it is essential to understand as much as possible about both. Chemotherapy can be an effective cancer treatment, but it is not without its risks. Before starting treatment, it is essential to talk to a cancer specialist from top oncology center like HCG about all of the potential side effects of chemotherapy.
Cancer can be managed and treated effectively with the proper understanding and support from top cancer hospitals in India like HCG.
