You’ve just learned you’ll be getting chemotherapy, and you’re nervous. Lots of folks think about weeks of illness, losing your hair, or not being able to get off the couch. But as a cancer doctor, I’m here to let you know that these are indeed real worries, but chemotherapy doesn’t have to be as complicated as you imagine. It’s individual to every person, and the treatments are even improved. Let us walk you through what chemotherapy is like, its benefits and disadvantages, and how we can make the process easier for you. That’s all you need to know in simple terms.
Chemotherapy is treated with powerful drugs that fight cancer by stopping its cells from growing and developing. How we treat depends on your specific cancer—what it is, how advanced it is (its stage), and how fast it’s growing. Some cancers, like some lymphomas or slow-growing cancers of the prostate don’t necessarily need chemo right away. Others, like fast-growing breast or lung cancer, often need it sooner.
Chemo can be the primary treatment, or we can combine it with other treatments like surgery, radiation, or newer treatments like immunotherapy. For example, in breast cancer, we can use chemo as a pre-treatment to shrink a tumour so that it’s easier to take out. Then, we can use it again after surgery to kill any leftover cancer cells. In advanced cancers, chemo can ease such symptoms as pain so you feel better and live more comfortably.
These medications can be taken in various ways—through an IV drip (which takes several hours), as pills you take at home, through injections, or even as creams for some skin cancers. Some of the most prevalent cancers in which chemo is most frequently used are breast, lung, colon, ovarian, leukaemia, and lymphoma.
The best thing about chemotherapy is that it kills cancer cells. It’s one of the most potent weapons we have against cancer, and its value will depend on your situation and what you need to accomplish. For some, chemo reduces a tumour so that it can be removed. For others, it slows cancer growth, giving you extra time. In a few situations—like certain leukaemias or lymphomas—chemo even kills cancer completely, giving you genuine hope for a cure.
I’ve seen patients start feeling better soon after beginning treatment because their cancer symptoms (like pain or tiredness) improve as the cancer shrinks. If your cancer has a good chance of being cured or controlled, the benefits of chemo often outweigh the challenges. But it’s a personal choice, and we’ll talk through your goals to see if it’s right for you.
Chemotherapy kills quickly dividing cells, which is why it’s so effective at treating cancer. But it can also kill healthy cells, which causes side effects. Not everyone gets the same side effects, and some get hardly any. It varies according to the drugs we give you, your overall health, and how your body reacts.
Short-Term Side Effects:-Of course—your choice is what’s best for you. I’ll explain to you the treatments that are appropriate for your cancer and for your health, but the choice is really up to you. We’ll discuss what you’d like to achieve, the benefits, and the risks, and you can choose what will work for you. You can always ask for more time or consider other options if you are unsure.
Cancer treatment has advanced greatly and chemotherapy has improved compared to the past. We have more drugs to select from, so we can find the most suitable one for you. For instance, there are more than 80 approved drugs for breast cancer alone! If one drug has too many side effects, we can usually switch to another.
We’ve also learned how to make drugs less toxic. For instance, a drug that’s called Velcade for treating multiple myeloma will cause fewer side effects when it’s given by injection under the skin compared to when it’s given through an IV. Anti-nausea medications have improved, and we usually give them during your chemo session to avoid nausea before it occurs.
Chemo may be paired with newer drugs like targeted therapy(which targets specific cancer cells) or immunotherapy (which helps your body’s immune system fight cancer). In particular patients with specific cancer mutations, these pairs have the potential to keep cancer at bay long term, almost like managing a chronic condition like diabetes.
We don’t just give you chemo and hope for the best—our supportive care manages side effects. Supportive treatments significantly affect how you feel during treatment. Some examples include:-
Having personnel assistance means that we can see side effects before they become troublesome, reduce their impact, and help you do as well as possible.
Don’t hesitate to ask questions regarding chemotherapy; none are insignificant. Write them down in advance, and have a person with you at the time of the visit to assist in taking notes—it may be overwhelming. Some ideas to ask:-
Chemotherapy might seem a frightening move, but it’s a successful weapon against cancer, typically with life-changing benefits like reducing tumours, halting cancer growth, or curing the disease. Indeed, there are side effects—tiredness, nausea, or hair loss—but not everybody develops them, and we now have means to manage them that were unavailable before. With more drug options, better treatments, and care, chemo is usually not as bad as people make it out to be. You can say yes or no, and I am here to help you decide what is in your best interest. If chemo is an option, I’ve seen it work miracles for hundreds of patients, and I hope you’ll be open to trying it.
Category : Chemotherapy Benefits
Tags: benefits of chemo , benefits of chemotherapy , cancer symptoms , cancer treatment , Chemotherapy , Immunotherapy , risks of chemotherapy
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