Chemotherapy Drugs

What is chemotherapy??

Chemotherapy (also called chemo) is a type of cancer treatment that uses drugs to destroy cancer cells.

How does chemotherapy work??

Chemotherapy works by stopping or slowing the growth of cancer cells, which grow and divide quickly. It can also harm healthy cells that divide quickly, such as those that line your mouth and intestines or cause your hair to grow. Damage to healthy cells may cause side effects. Often, side effects get better or go away after chemotherapy is over.

What does chemotherapy do??

Depending on your type of cancer and how advanced it is, chemotherapy can:

1. Cure cancer – chemotherapy drugs destroys cancer cells to the point that your doctor can no longer detect them in your body and they will not grow back.
2. Control cancer – chemotherapy drugs keeps cancer from spreading, slows its growth, or destroys cancer cells that have spread to other parts of your body.
3. Ease cancer symptoms (also called palliative care) - when chemotherapy drugs shrink tumour that are causing pain or pressure.

How chemotherapy is used??

Sometimes, chemotherapy drugs are used as the only cancer treatment. But more often, you will get chemotherapy drugs along with surgery, radiation therapy, or biological therapy.

• Chemotherapy drugs make tumour smaller before surgery or radiation therapy. This is called neo-adjuvant chemotherapy.

• Chemotherapy Drugs destroy cancer cells that may remain after surgery or radiation therapy. This is called adjuvant chemotherapy.

• Chemotherapy Drugs Help radiation therapy and biological therapy work well.

• Chemotherapy Drugs destroy cancer cells that have come back (recurrent cancer) or spread to other parts of your body (metastatic cancer)

Side effects: fatigue, mouth n throat sores, diarrhea, Nausea and vomiting.