Chemotherapy 101

This post is dedicated to educating you about chemotherapy. I know I've been mentioning a lot about some of my own recent experiences with it, but I think I may have failed to inform you fully about the therapy, what it is intended to do, and why it causes the crazy things it does. So, what exactly is chemotherapy anyway?

Chemotherapy is a type of treatment for many types of cancers that is used for a number of reasons:
1) To shrink a large tumor before surgery
2) To shrink tumors as a method of controlling pain
3) To kill cancer cells that are known to have spread or metastesized to other areas of the body
4) As a precaution to kill cancer cells that may have "leaked out" from the initial primary tumor site, thereby preventing a recurrence of the cancer. (**as in my case)

The word 'chemotherapy' actually refers to the use of ANY drug or medication to treat disease. Antibiotics, for example, are types of chemotherapy. It has just become a common way these days to refer to the cell-killing drugs we use to treat cancer.

As you have probably figured out thus far, cancer happens when cells divide uncontrollably. Normal cells in the body grow, divide, and then die in an orderly fashion. But malignant cells continue to grow and divide. They outlive normal cells and continue to produce more and more abnormal cells. This is when tumors form. Normal cells are also confined to one area of the body--the area where they belong (i.e. breast cells stay in the breast, liver cells stay in the liver). But cancer cells have the ability to spread to distant areas of the body through the lymphatic or vascular (blood) systems, and this is when they may become lethal.

The idea of chemotherapy is to kill rapidly dividing cells. Because cancer cells, as mentioned above, are rapidly growing and more aggressive than normal cells, it is hoped that in the process of killing these rapidly dividing cells, the cancer cells will be killed. The biggest problem with chemotherapy is that it does not discriminate between normal, healthy cells and cancer cells. It just simply attacks rapidly dividing cells. Because of this, both cancer cells and normal cells get killed in the process.

The main reason why most side effects are noticed during chemotherapy, is because the normal cells in the body that are in the process of diving are killed. For example, the hair, skin, and nails grow quickly because they are the sites of rapidly dividing cells. When these cells are killed, the hair, skin, and nails are also killed in the process. This is why many people experience hair loss, darkened or dry skin, and brittle, dark nails (in more aggressive chemo treatments some people even lose their nails). Moist membranes (like the mouth and nose) are also the sites of rapidly dividing cells. Again, because these cells are now being damaged, these once moist areas may now become dry. This is why many chemotherapy patients develop dry mouth and mouth sores during chemo treatments.

The most crucial cells that are killed in the process of chemotherapy are the white and red blood cells, which are produced by the bone marrow. These cells are extremely important to our health, so killing them poses a great deal of risks. The white blood cells are part of your immune system, and help to fight infection. When they are killed, you are, therefore, more susceptible to infections and less able to fight them off. After each treatment, the white blood cells are reduced more and more. The 10th day of after each treatment they are thought to be at their lowest, then they gradually begin to rejuvenate around the 14th day.
The red blood cells, or 'haemoglobin,' are responsible for circulating oxygen throughout the body. When the red blood cells are killed, something called "anemeia" can be caused. This causes fatigue and breathlessness and may need to be treated with a blood transfusion.

The final area of the body affected by the killing of dividing cells that I would like to mention is the digestive system. This is another site for rapidly dividing cells, which becomes heavily affected by chemotherapy. When the cells of the digestive system are killed symptoms like nausea, vomiting, acid indigestion, diarrhea, and other such symptoms are caused.

Chemotherapy may be preceded, followed, or accompanied by surgery, radiation, hormonal therapy, gene therapy, and/or bone marrow or blood stem cell transplantation. This all depends on the type and stage of the cancer. There are also various alternative forms of treatment (i.e. diet, exercise, herbal remedies, etc.) and new forms of treatment (i.e. vaccines) on the rise. In my case, I recieved surgery, followed by chemotherapy, which will finally be followed by hormonal therapy.

I hope this helps you to better understand chemotherapy, as I know I have been and will be discussing it heavily in this blog. I know I had no idea about chemotherapy (or cancer for that matter) before I was diagnosed. But, even if you do not have cancer or don't have anyone close to you with cancer, it is likely that someday in the future you or someone you love will be touched by it. I know that doesn't sound the most positive, but we need to face the facts. 1 in 2 people will now be diagnosed with some sort of cancer in their lifetime. That can't be ignored. So why not be informed about it, right?

If you'd like to know more about chemotherapy, you can visit the following sites:

Canadian Cancer Society- Chemotherapy

Cancer Backup- Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy.com

Chemocare.com