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Chemotherapy is a systemic method of
cancer treatment, in contrast with local therapies such
as surgery and radiation therapy. The drugs used in
chemotherapy are able to reach most parts of the body.
Therefore, chemotherapy is likely to be recommended
for cancer that has already spread to other areas of
the body, for tumors that occur at more than one site,
or for tumors that cannot be
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removed surgically. It is also used when a patient has recurrent
disease after initial treatment with surgery or radiation therapy.
Chemotherapy is less mutilating than surgery and helps conserve
organ or limb function since anti-cancer drugs are used to
act on cancer cells without direct removal of a body part.
For some cancers, chemotherapy alone can destroy all the
cancer cells and cure the cancer (primary treatment). As an
adjuvant treatment, chemotherapy is given prior to, or after
other methods, to increase the effectiveness of cancer treatment.
Most often, adjuvant chemotherapy is given after other therapies
have destroyed the clinically detectable cancer cells. The
purpose of adjuvant chemotherapy is to reduce the risk of
recurrence or to prolong survival. If cure is not possible,
chemotherapy may be given to minimize the discomfort caused
by cancer or slow the progression of the disease to prolong
the patient's life (palliative treatment).
As a primary treatment, chemotherapy is used for some cancers
such as Hodgkin's
disease, leukemia,
Burkitt's
lymphoma, localized diffuse large cell lymphoma, Wilms'
tumor, small cell lung cancer, and testicular cancer.
Chemotherapy may be given prior to surgical resection or
radiation therapy to shrink the tumor and make it easier to
resect. This type of chemotherapy is called neo-adjuvant,
induction, or preoperative chemotherapy.
As a palliative therapy, chemotherapy can be used to help
make the cancer patient's life as comfortable as possible.
In the case of Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia, which is generally
considered incurable, chemotherapy is administered to relieve
symptoms and serious complications such as anemia.
Every cancer is unique, as is every cancer patient; therefore,
the oncologist takes great care to tailor the chemotherapy
plan to the particular case. The treatment protocol specifies
what type of drug(s) should be given, what dosage should be
given, how to administer the drug(s), how often the drug(s)
should be given, and how long the treatment should last. During
chemotherapy, the oncologist, who may change or modify the
treatment plan to achieve better results, closely monitors
the progress of the cancer patient and the tumor response.
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