So you have been told that your cancer will be treated with chemotherapy. What exactly does that mean? Are the side effects as bad as you’ve heard? How effective is it? Why not another type of treatment? What about immunotherapy? These are important questions to ask your doctor, but to give you a head start, here’s some basic information about these two common forms of cancer treatment: chemotherapy and immunotherapy.
Chemotherapy
The use of drugs or medicines to treat cancer is chemotherapy. Unlike surgery or radiation treatments that remove, kill, or damage cancer in a specific area, chemo works throughout the body and can be used to kill cancer cells that have spread to other parts of the body. Chemotherapy can be used to cure cancer, control cancer, or for palliation.
Common side effects due to chemotherapy include tiredness, hair loss, easy bruising and bleeding, anemia, infection, changes in appetite, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, problems with the mouth, tongue and throat (such as pain on swallowing and ulcers ). , nail and skin changes, bladder and urine changes, kidney problems, weight changes, mood changes, fertility problems, and changes in sexual function and libido. It is important to remember that just because all of these side effects exist does not mean you will experience them. You may have only a few or none at all. Chemotherapy treatment affects each person differently.
Immunotherapy
Using the body’s immune system to fight cancer is called immunotherapy. This can be done in two ways:
- By stimulating your immune system to attack cancer cells or work harder in general.
- By giving your immune system components, such as man-made proteins.
Immunotherapy works better for some types of cancer than for others. It is sometimes used as a sole treatment and sometimes in combination with other treatments. Immunotherapy can be given intravenously (IV), orally, topically, or intravesically (directly into the bladder). The main forms of immunotherapy currently used to treat cancer are:
- Monoclonal Antibodies – man-made proteins that can be designed to attack specific parts of cancer cells.
- Immune checkpoint inhibitors – medicines that help the immune system recognize and attack cancer cells.
- Vaccines against cancer – substances that are introduced into the body to trigger an immune response.
- Non-specific immunotherapies – These generally stimulate the immune system, which can help attack cancer cells.
The side effects you may experience with immunotherapy treatment depend on the type of immunotherapy you are receiving, but in general the possible side effects are skin reactions at the site of the needle, flu-like symptoms (fever, chills, weakness, nausea or vomiting ). dizziness, tiredness, joint or muscle pain, difficulty breathing, headache, high or low blood pressure), weight gain from fluid retention, swelling, sinus congestion, palpitations, and risk of infection.
Cancer treatments and side effects: chemotherapy
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