Oncology is the name of the practice in treating cancer. The most common types of cancer treatments are surgery (some cancers can be cured if the tumor is detected and surgically removed before cancer cells spread), chemotherapy (anti-cancer drugs) and radiotherapy (radiation treatment which kills cancer cells or stops them from multiplying. Often these treatments are most effective when used together.
What is Chemotherapy?
Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer using anti-cancer drugs to kill cancer cells. These drugs can be administered using injections or infusions directly into the bloodstream or less commonly using tablets, it is also possible to receive chemotherapy by injection into muscle or into a body cavity.
How Does Chemotherapy work and when is it used?
Chemotherapy works by interfearing with the ability of the cancer cell to replicate, this means that the cancer will either have it’s growth slowed, stopped or it will destroy all of the cancer cells.
Different chemotherapy drugs will have activity with different cancers and more than one drug will have activity for the same cancer. In practice this means that it is common for more than one drug to be used in combination.
Adjuvant chemotherapy: this is when chemotherapy is given after surgery or radiotherapy in an attempt to destroy any cancer cells which are left by the original therapy and so attempt to increase the chances of a cure.
Neo-Adjuvant Chemotherapy: is chemotherapy given before surgery or radiotherapy to make them more effective and increase the possibility of a cure.
Palliative chemotherapy: the intention here is primarily relieve symptoms and to improve the patients quality of life.
How long is chemotherapy used for?
The length of treatment can range between weeks and months. The majority of chemotherapy will be given at hospital, this can take as little as an hour or up to 4-5 days. Most chemotherapy will be given every 14-28 days and this is known as a cycle. These cycles will be repeated from 2-6 times depending how well your cancer responds to the treatment.
Side Effects of chemotherapy?
- Nausea and vomiting
- Loss of appetite
- Sore mouth
- Diarrhoea / constipation
- Tiredness / fatigue
- Hair loss
- Bone marrow suppression
Different chemotherapy drugs will cause different side effects and individual patients will experience variations of severity and some will not experience any severe side effects.
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