Chemotherapy is an effective way to treat cancer. With this method you can destroy cancer cells throughout your body, wherever they may be.
Depending on the type of cancer and the stage of its development, thanks to chemotherapy:
♦ cure cancer
♦ stop its development and spread (creating metastases)
♦ slow down the progression of cancer
♦ improve the quality of life and alleviate the symptoms of the disease.
Is chemotherapy the only method used to treat cancer?
Sometimes, in justified cases, chemotherapy can be the only therapy used. More often, however, chemotherapy is used as a method supporting surgical procedures and radiotherapy.
In the combination treatment of certain types of cancer (eg breast cancer, colorectal cancer) it is used after surgery to help destroy the remaining cancer cells in the body. It is called supplementary or adjuvant chemotherapy.
What is chemotherapy and what is its healing action?
More specifically, administering drugs during each disease is chemotherapy. However, it has been accepted that this name refers to the use of a special group of drugs in the treatment of cancer. The specifics of most of these drugs are that they mainly destroy rapidly growing cells - and these are cancer cells. These drugs significantly reduce slower growth of healthy cells as well as cells at rest. Thanks to this property, cancer cells will be destroyed, while the healthy majority will remain intact.
What medicines will the patient receive?
The choice of a drug depends on the type of cancer that caused the disease, its severity and general health and co-morbidities.
What are the ways of taking chemotherapy?
Depending on the type of cancer and the specificity of the drugs, there are several ways of administering chemotherapy to the patient. It can be an oral form (a drug in the form of a tablet or capsule). May be intramuscular injection of the drug in the form of an injection. Chemotherapy can also be given intravenously - the drug is then introduced using a thin needle, eg a vein on the forearm. (Another method of administration used for frequent injections is the temporary insertion of a catheter - a thin tube - into a large vein, e.g. subclavian). Chemotherapy can also be given directly through the bladder or liver catheter.
Is chemotherapy painful?
The pain during chemotherapy comes down to needle insertion, with intramuscular and intravenous administration of the drug. Intravenous chemotherapy is a bit like taking blood for analysis, but it lasts longer. Some have discomfort during this type of procedure and should inform their doctor or nurse about it. Any sensations of nausea or pain are important, especially if they increase with the administration of the drug. In the case of oral administration of the drug, the problem of pain simply does not exist.
What to do if the veins are fragile, difficult to find or are so "pierced" that it is impossible to find a place to punch a needle?
In such cases, the use of a catheter permanently installed in the vein should be considered as long as it is necessary. Catheters do not usually cause pain and discomfort if they are well worn. With any pain caused by a catheter, please inform your doctor and ask for an intervention. Sometimes a threat of phlebitis or thrombosis may appear.
Where will the patient undergo chemotherapy?
Usually, this place is an oncology clinic or oncology clinic.After the surgery, the patient should be prepared to stay for a short time in the hospital so that the doctor can observe the effects of the drug on the body. It is possible that this situation will happen again. Later, the choice of place depends on the patient's state of health, on the hospital's policy and on the specificity of the medicine itself. If it is, for example, an oral medicine - it can be taken at home.
edited, ed. Edward Ozga-Michalski
consultation with MD Agnieszka Jagiełło-Gruszfeld
oncologist
