Chemotherapy Chemotherapy Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer using specific chemicals or drugs that poison cancerous cells and tissues. Unlike radiation therapy, which targets a specific area of cancerous cells, such as a tumor, chemotherapy is a systemic treatment that attacks cancer cells throughout the body. Most cancers are able to spread because cancer cells divide and multiply more quickly than normal cells. Traditional chemotherapy actually poisons all of the body's cells to some extent, but it particularly targets rapidly dividing cells, such as cancer cells. Many of these side effects can be minimized through the use of accompanying therapies, such as anti-nausea drugs, which greatly improve quality of life for people undergoing cancer treatment.
Chemotherapy treatment is highly individualized.
The types and amounts of chemotherapy drugs used to treat a person's cancer can vary, depending on the type of cancer, the extent of its progression, and the side effects to the patient. Chemotherapy may be given alone, or along with another treatment such as radiation therapy or surgery. Rush Cancer Institute physicians are actively engaged in research seeking better chemotherapy drugs, as well as ways to enhance the effectiveness of currently used chemotherapy drugs while decreasing side effects for patients. Rush researchers are also developing experimental drugs that target cancer cells and prevent their growth by cutting off their blood supply rather than poisoning them. Other Rush studies have shown that patients with more advanced cancers can benefit from chemotherapy given before surgery, to shrink the cancer, making it easier to remove.