WHAT IS IT? WHO AND WHY? IS THERE A CURE? Radiotherapy Chemotherapy Surgery Complementary therapies WHAT ARE THE FACTS? WHAT DOES THIS WORD MEAN?

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy may be used on its own or in combination with other cancer treatments, such as radiotherapy or surgery. It uses strong drugs to fight the cancer cells. It’s often quite effective, but it can have side effects including hair loss and vomiting.

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What is it?

Chemotherapy, (often shortened to chemo), is the use of strong drugs that help by interfering with the way cells divide to prevent the cancer from spreading. It can sometimes even cure the disease by getting rid of all the cancer cells in the body.

Cartoon character walking with a mobile drip

Types of chemotherapy

Young people can be given chemo medications in different ways, including:

Intravenously (IV): A needle or catheter (a thin flexible tube) is inserted into a vein and the medicine flows from an IV bag or bottle into the bloodstream.

Orally: The person getting treatment swallows a pill, capsule, or liquid form of chemo medication.

By injection: Using a needle or syringe, the drugs are injected into a muscle or under the skin.

What happens during chemotherapy?

The medication enters the blood and flows through the body, interfering with the cancer cells' ability to divide and reproduce themselves. Healthy cells can recover from the damage caused by chemotherapy, but the cancer cells cannot so they eventually die.

Most chemotherapy is given to you in the hospital outpatients' department. The treatment may take anything from a few minutes, if it is an injection, to a couple of hours if you are having the drugs through a drip. You are usually at the hospital for a few hours because you have to have blood tests before your treatment and will have to wait for the results to come through.

What are the side effects?

Some people have no side effects. However, in rare cases, people have severe side effects that mean treatment has to be stopped for a while, giving the person time to recover. Effects might include:

feeling sick, not wanting to eat
hair loss
mouth, gum and throat sores
feeling depressed, down or nervous
itchy skin or other skin problems
kidney and bladder problems
blood problems, such as anaemia