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Chemotherapy

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goodtoknow says: Chemotherapy is used to treat cancer, and works by poisoning the cancerous cells. Most suffers have chemo as an out patient, so only spend a few hours at a time at the hospital. As chemotherapy can damage normal cells too, some side effects such as hair loss, tiredness and vomiting are common. However, these vary from person to person and are only temporary. Some cancers can be cured by chemotherapy alone, others may need other treatments such as radiotherapy. If a cure is not possible, chemo can be used to limit the growth or spread of cancer.

For a full medical explanation of the aims, side effects and risks of chemotherapy from patient.co.uk, read on.

What is chemotherapy?

Chemotherapy literally means 'drug treatment'. However, the term chemotherapy has come to mean a treatment of cancer by using anti-cancer drugs called cytotoxic drugs.

There are other types of anti-cancer drugs. For example: drugs which block the effects of certain hormones are used to treat some cancers; monoclonal antibodies and other types of drugs which affect the immune system are used to treat certain cancers; etc. These other types of anti-cancer drugs are not dealt with further in this leaflet.

Next: What are cytotoxic drugs and how do they work?

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