Chemotherapy for Cancer Cure and Control

Chemotherapy is a widely used procedure for the treatment of cancer, which is basically through the administration of certain drugs that not only kill the cancer cells but also prevent the abnormal cell division and growth. The efficiency of chemotherapy depends on the stage of cancer and on the location of cancer also.

How Does Chemotherapy work?

• By preventing mitosis or cell division of the cancer cells
• blocks the nutrition of cancer cells, thereby, triggers apoptosis or cell death of these cells.
• Prevents the growth of cancer cells by preventing blood supply and starving the cancer cells. (but the disruption of blood supply to the cancerous cell results in drug resistance by the cancer cells and causes Metastasis of cancer.)

Why is it performed?

Chemotherapy is performed mainly to achieve:

• Cure: although there is no guarantee that cancer will not relapse again, however, the symptoms are overcome for a period of time.
• Control: if the cure is not permanent then at least chemotherapy helps in shrinking the tumor and prevents Metastasis of cancer.
• Palliative care: it helps in easing the symptoms caused due to cancer.

Contra-indication

Chemotherapy is contraindicated in the following cases:

• The first trimester of pregnancy
• Recent history of surgery
• Patients with low blood platelet count
• Liver or kidney disease
• Having some infection

How is it administered:

• Either through injections directly into the muscles of hip, thigh or arm or sometimes it can also be administered in the fatty part of arm, leg or stomach or sometimes just under the skin.
• Intra-arterial through the needle the medicine is directly delivered in the artery. Sometimes medicines are administered in the arteries through the catheter.
• Intraperitoneal as the drugs are delivered through the peritoneal cavity. The medicines are administered intraperitoneal through a special port in the peritoneum by the doctor either by surgery or through a tube.
• The chemotherapy is administered intravenously which means through veins through needle, catheter, port or pump.
• Tropically or locally by rubbing the drugs in a cream form on the skin.
• Or orally like a pill or a liquid.

Things to do before the procedure:

Before chemotherapy, the patient must conduct the blood test and get their stem cells retrieved especially in cases where stem cell transplant is advised.

Feeling after the procedure?

After the procedure the patient feels very tired, patients need proper care and adequate rest after the administration of chemotherapy. Few people fell ill also after chemotherapy. On the days you get chemotherapy, the recipient should take rest and avoid working as chemotherapy causes fatigue.