Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer using chemicals or drugs to destroy malignant cells and tissues. It can also be used to slow the rapid growth of cancerous cells, and can be used to shrink tumors. Chemotherapy is used in conjunction with other treatments like surgery and radiation therapy to treat breast cancer.

Chemotherapy is generally used after surgery in order to kill any additional cancer cells that may have been missed by the surgeon because they were too small to be located or were in an undetected area. It can also be used to shrink the tumor before surgery. Because many drugs are effective in fighting cancer cells, chemotherapy uses a combination of drugs or a cocktail of drugs. Doctors choose which chemicals and drugs to use based on a number of criteria. Some of these criteria include the stage and size of the tumor, whether it is in the breast or the lymph nodes, the general health of the patient, and the patient’s age. Patients who are older than 65 years experience an increased severity of side effects. Doctors closely monitor patients who are receiving chemotherapy in order to gauge the effectiveness of the treatment and can make adjustments to the combination of drugs if needed.

There are three types of chemotherapy, and they are used in different ways. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is used before surgery to shrink the size of the tumor. Adjuvant chemotherapy is used after surgery, either a lumpectomy or a mastectomy, in order to kill extraneous cancer cells that weren’t taken out with the tumor itself. This form of therapy greatly reduces the risk that the cancerous cells will grow into another tumor. This means that it is much less likely that the patient will have a recurrence of the cancer. The last type of chemotherapy is called palliative chemotherapy. In difficult cases where the cancer has spread beyond the lymph nodes and the breast, and cannot be operated on, palliative chemotherapy is used to control the growth of the cancerous cells. This type of chemotherapy cannot cure the patient, but can be used to extend the life of the patient.

The delivery systems generally used in chemotherapy comprise two different forms; drugs are either put in the patient’s vein via intravenous drip, or given in pill form, orally. Chemotherapy is considered a systemic treatment rather than a localized treatment because once the drugs enter the patient’s vein, or the patient’s stomach, they travel to all parts of the body, the healthy parts as well and the cancerous parts.

Chemotherapy is generally given to a patient a month after surgery, and the course of the treatments continue in weekly sessions over the period of several months. Doctors monitor their patient’s responses to the drugs very closely. They use different ways to monitor the effects of the chemotherapy such as patient anecdotal reports, physical examinations, blood tests, CT scans, MRI scans and x-rays. Depending on the doctor’s findings, the decision may be made to change the strength of the drugs being given, or the amounts, or the schedule of the treatments. If not enough of an improvement is seen, the chemotherapy may last longer than expected. Sometimes a rest cycle will be scheduled in between sessions of chemotherapy if the patient isn’t doing well enough to continue the prescribed treatment. After the rest cycle, the patient will begin another round of treatments.

The side effects of chemotherapy include nausea and vomiting, hair loss, fatigue, mouth sores, and an increased risk of infection due to a decreased white blood cell count.

Chemotherapy is one of the most effective tools in the fight against breast cancer despite its serious, but temporary, side-effects. It is very helpful in the treatment of cancer, and helps reduce the risk of the patient ever having cancer again.

Related Posts

• Sequence Of Treatment
• How Chemotherapy Works To Combat Breast Cancer
• A Laywoman’s Guide To Breast Cancer
• What Is Papillary Carcinoma Of The Breast?
• Chemotherapy Treatment