Question

What is the danger of chemotherapy? Why is it given to patients?

What are at least three things you can do to help prevent and limit your risks of cancer?

What is HIV? Include if it is virus or bacteria and what disease often develops due to this infection.

What is the difference between an allergen and and a pathogen?

Answer 1

Chemotherapy (also known as chemo-treatment) is a type of treatment of cancer in which drugs are used to destroy cancerous cells or to retard their growth. Many types of cancer are effectively treated with chemotherapy. Like other treatments, it also causes side effects which may vary person to person. These side effects are dependent on the type and location of cancer, drugs and their dosage and individual's health.

Chemotherapy is not only responsible for killing fast growing cancer cells, but also slows or destroys the growth of healthy body cells that divide and function normally. The body cells which are affected are cells which cause growth of hairs and cells lining the intestines and mouth. Side effects include hair loss, nausea and mouth sores. However, these side effects gradually go away as the session of chemotherapy is finished.

Common side effects include pain, fatigue, diarrhea, constipation, etc. Some serious side effects include blood disorders, damage to nervous system, memory loss and sexual sterility in both males and females. Chemotherapy affects the process of formation of new blood cells as it damages the bone marrow tissue. it induces anaemia, leukopenia, dizziness, etc. but, once chemotherapy is over, the blood cell count is regained.

Some chemotherapeutic drugs cause neural damage which results in tingling sensation, burning, loss of balance, etc. Cognitive changes or dysfunction is also seen in patients who received chemotherapy as they are not able to think or concentrate clearly. After completion of the chemotherapy, the follow up care is of utmost importance to deal with later effects of chemotherapy.

Chemotherapy can be called as a systemic approach of treatment because the "chemo-drugs" moves throughout the body and target the cancerous cells that have metastasized from the primary tumour to other parts of the body. Due to this metastasis, other treatments like radiation and surgery are not recommended and this makes cancer difficult to treat. A part of tumour is removed surgically from the detected part and radiation treatment is used to treat specific areas of body to destroy cancerous cells. Such treatments are called local treatments.

Chemotherapy is used differently on patients at different times. This can be understood by the following points:

1. "Neo-adjuvant chemotherapy" is used to reduce the size of tumors before the radiation or surgery treatment.

2. This is followed by "adjuvant chemotherapy" after post surgical treatment or post radiation treatment in which any left cancerous cells are destroyed.

3. In cases of blood cancers such as leukemia or cancers of lymphatic system such as lymphoma, chemotherapy is the only possible treatment.

4. Chemotherapy is also used for metastatic cancer (cancer which spreads to remaining parts of the body other than part of origin) and recurrent cancer (cancer which comes back after cancer treatment).