Learning about chemotherapy treatment

What is chemotherapy and how does it work?

Chemotherapy is the use of medicines or drugs to treat disease. Many times this treatment is just called “chemo.” Surgery and radiation therapy remove, kill, or damage cancer cells in a certain area, but chemo works throughout the whole body. Chemo can kill cancer cells that have metastasized or spread to parts of the body far away from the primary (original) tumor.

More than 100 chemo drugs are used in many combinations. A single chemo drug can be used to treat cancer. But for the most part, the drugs work better when used in certain combinations. This is called combination chemotherapy. A combination of drugs with different actions can work together to kill more cancer cells. It can also reduce the chance that the cancer may become resistant to any one chemo drug.

You and your doctor will decide what drug or combination of drugs you will get. Your doctor will choose the doses, how the drugs will be given, and how often and how long you will get treatment. All of these decisions will depend on the type of cancer, where it is, how big it is, and how it affects your normal body functions and overall health.

What is the goal of chemo?

Depending on the type of cancer and its stage (if and how far it has spread), chemo can be used to:

• Cure the cancer.
• Keep the cancer from spreading.
• Slow the cancer’s growth.
• Kill cancer cells that may have spread to other parts of the body.
• Relieve symptoms caused by cancer.

Your doctor will talk to you about the goal of your chemo before you start treatment.

Will chemo be my only treatment for cancer?

Sometimes chemo is the only treatment you need. More often, chemo is used along with surgery or radiation therapy or with both. Here’s why:

• Chemo may be used to shrink a tumor before surgery or radiation therapy.
• It may be used after surgery or radiation therapy to help kill any remaining cancer cells.
• It may be used with other treatments if your cancer comes back.

When chemo is given after surgery to kill any cancer cells that may still be present, it is called adjuvant therapy. When chemo is used to shrink a tumor before surgery or radiation therapy, it is called neoadjuvant therapy.