What is chemotherapy treatment?
What is chemotherapy treatment?
Introduction
Cancers can show up in any site. Most common among these sites are lungs, breasts, oral organs, skin, cervix, prostate, etc. Benign cancers do not progress to other parts or organs of your body. However, malignant or harmful tumours are known to multiply to other neighbouring tissues.
Causes of cancers can be genetic, environmental and a few others. Research is actively underway to detect the other likely causes of such autoimmune conditions. There are a few typical signs of cancers; these are loss of appetite levels, formation of wounds that never heal or take time to go away, a marked decrease in blood cells, etc.
Drop of white cells in blood signifies a drop in efficiency of your immunity level. This means a compromised immune system may lead to more infections. It is highly recommended to move away from people who are infected by conditions like flu, common cold and other such contagious conditions.
Cancers are treated with multiple options – and a combination of several approaches. Most widely used options include radiation therapies, surgeries and chemotherapy. Radiation involves halting cancer cells from growing by destroying them with powerful rays. Surgeries involve excision of a tumour through surgical means. This approach help eliminate cancerous cells from the affected site. It is often performed before cancers spread to nearby sites or tissues
In this milieu, what is chemotherapy?
Chemotherapy is one of the trusted approaches to treat cancers. This approach is carried over by administering powerful anti-tumor medications. Scores of meds have the needful clearances by the US-based food & drug administration for this purpose. These meds can do one of these two things: they can either extend your life by more years or can offer remedies to the underlying autoimmune condition.
As many of the approved meds – cleared for chemotherapy – can easily get absorbed into your system, they gain access to almost all organs and tissues. This attribute makes chemotherapy qualify as one of the systemic therapies offered for cancers. Therapies qualifying as systemic treatments differ from localized therapies – these focus only on a site and not the whole system
Types of chemotherapy
The drugs used as part of chemotherapy tend to vary across types as well as stages of cancers. Your caregiver decides the kind of drugs that best suits the underlying clinical condition. Which chemo drug needs to be used also varies based on your age, phase of your autoimmune condition, other ailments and existing treatment plans, if any.
In some instances, chemotherapy is combined with therapies like radiations, hormonal treatments and surgeries. Your doctor assesses various options of drugs available that suit the ailment. Caregiving teams choose from categories like anti–tumor antibiotic meds, alkaloids, antagonists of metabolites, etc.
Anti-tumor antibiotic meds
These antibiotics differ from meds administered for infectious conditions. Like the regular antibiotics, sourced from microbes, these meds are also sourced from them. Key ingredients are primed to kill cancerous agents that grow rapidly. Essentially anti-tumor antibiotic meds unwind DNAs of cancer cells. This unwinding action prevents them from spreading as well as growing. Anti-tumor antibiotic meds are widely used for different types of cancerous conditions. These include breast cancers , lung cancers, prostate cancers, as well as cancers in the large intestines.
Beware of a few adverse reactions anti-tumor antibiotic meds can cause. Most commonly encountered adverse effects include oral-sores or wounds on tongue / throat, drop in red blood cells, a marked decrease in appetite, etc. If these adverse signs persist, consult with your medical oncologist without delay. Your caregiver may reduce dosages or administered safer alternatives to reduce such discomforts.
Alkylating medications
Medications under this genre damage structures of cancer cells there rapidly grow and spread. Demolishing structures of these cells will make them defunct, and also render them fully inactive – incapable of further growth. Your medical oncologist decides on the dosage strength of alkylating medications with added caution. This precaution is needed as there is a risk of impairment of your marrow.
Apart from an impaired marrow, side effects can range from significant loss of hair from all parts of your body, a severe drop in white blood cells, formation of ulcers or such other ailments in your gastric tract.
Antagonists of metabolites
Drugs belonging to this category are widely patronized by medical oncologists. Essential chemicals in these agonists rupture cells of cancer–causing agents and thus stall their growth. Users of such agonists complain of several undesired reactions such as tremors, inflammation of liver or cirrhosis of liver, signs of infections like cold, fever or a runny nose. Agonists of metabolites can treat cancers in your intestines, breast as well as ovaries.
Alkaloids
Topoisomerase inhibiting drugs are a salient offering for treating tumors. Alkaloids taken from vegetation can halt cell-level functions of cancer agents. These drugs are grouped as category I and category II. Each category has a unique approach to work on disrupting cancer cells.
Alkaloids are known to trigger some unwanted reactions and adverse outcomes. A few such outcomes are dyspepsia, a sizable decrease in platelet counts, etc. Alkaloids are used for treating cancers in pancreas, lungs, small & large intestines, and for leukaemia.
Chemotherapy process
This process works through anti-tumor medications to impair cancer–causing cells. Most drugs used under chemotherapy work in stages or in cycles. Each drug works in a unique manner on people living with cancers. However, your team of physicians stand aware of how each med works, and in what cycles they are at their optimal best. Understanding the cell-cycles, their stages as well as their phases is essential to treat your auto immune condition.
Most drugs administered under chemotherapy cannot identify cancerous agents from normal / healthy cells. As a result, healthy cells too may get damaged by most drugs. Your treating physicians / medical oncologists focus on minimising the harm caused onto healthy cells, and also to maximise damages inflicted onto rapidly growing cancer cells. Your doctor will advise you to not to get perturbed with likely damages of your normal cells. Healthy cells will find a way to get back to their normal way of functioning.
Chemo drugs seldom cause normal and active cells to permanently lose their ability to function. You also need to remember cancerous agents – once killed – can never reclaim their regular way of growing and spreading. Thus, meds used under chemotherapy cause irreparable damages to harmful cells, and bring about needful remedies for cancerous conditions.
Chemotherapy side effects
Similar to other approaches used for cancer treatments, chemotherapy also causes adverse effects. However, no two people taking anti-tumor drugs may develop the same kind of adverse effects. There are some outcomes that remain common among patients. Common effects are a reduction in efficiency of immune system, risks of internal bleeding, painful nerves, bones and tissues, hair loss, turning more vulnerable to infections, etc.
Some of the meds listed above may cause skin conditions like rashes, infections, blisters or sores. If these skin problems continue for long or are becoming worse, seek help from your medical oncologist. It is a safe practice to ask your dietitian of foods you can eat during chemotherapy. She / he will tell you to refrain from drinking alcohol and to avoid spicy / hot foods.
Some meds used for chemotherapy may also trigger bodily pains. In fact, types of pains inflicted vary from one med to another. Some drugs may give you a splitting headache while others can lead to neuralgia i.e., pain in your nerves. When rate of growth of cancerous cells is on a high, most of these pains tend to aggravate. It is an unsafe thing to stop chemo sittings when you encounter pains. Instead, you are advised to pursue with your chemotherapy sessions in spite of the aforesaid bodily pains.
Almost all meds used as part of chemotherapy are prescription drugs. Attempts made to take such drugs through self-medication mode can cause fatal outcomes. You are strictly advised to use all chemo meds under the watchful supervision of a certified medical oncologist. It is a standard practice to let a caregiving team to decide on the type of drugs needed, their dosage strength and frequency of chemo sittings.
Lastly, stay away of possible combinations of treatments. It is quite likely that your oncological team may use 2 or more approaches like surgery combined with chemotherapy and radiations; hormonal therapy along with surgery and chemotherapy, etc. This multi-disciplinary approach to treat cancer is widely followed all over the world. In order to have more details, talk to your treating physician.
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Education: Bachelor of Pharmacy (B.Pharm) from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai Experience: Dr. Agarwal is a seasoned pharmacist with over 7 years of experience in the pharmaceutical field. She has worked in various settings, including hospital pharmacies and community clinics, where she has excelled in medication management, patient counseling, and clinical support. Education: Bachelor of Pharmacy (B.Pharm) from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai Experience: Dr. Agarwal is a seasoned pharmacist with over 7 years of experience in the pharmaceutical field. She has worked in various settings, including hospital pharmacies and community clinics, where she has excelled in medication management, patient counseling, and clinical support. Dr. Agarwal is known for her expertise in drug therapy optimization and patient safety. In addition to her practical experience, she contributes to health journalism, focusing on pharmaceutical advancements and health policy, and is involved in research projects aimed at improving medication practices and health outcomes. is known for her expertise in drug therapy optimization and patient safety. In addition to her practical experience, she contributes to health journalism, focusing on pharmaceutical advancements and health policy, and is involved in research projects aimed at improving medication practices and health outcomes.