Anticancer drugs destroy cancer cells by stopping them from growing or multiplying at one or more points in their growth cycle. Chemotherapy may consist of one or several cytotoxic drugs, depending on the type of cancer being treated. In addition to chemotherapy, other methods are sometimes used to treat cancer. For example, your doctor may recommend that you have surgery to remove a tumor or to relieve certain symptoms that may be caused by your cancer. You also may receive radiation therapy to treat your cancer or its symptoms.
Chemotherapy kills both cancer and healthy cells.
The goal is to minimize damage to normal cells and to enhance the cytotoxic effect to cancer cells. An Integrated Approach Nutrients and hormone therapies can be used to mitigate the toxicity of chemotherapy. The use of chemotherapy can cause health problems over and above those of the cancer itself such as severe heart muscle damage, gastrointestinal damage, anemia, nausea, and lethal suppression of immune function. Bolstering the immune system may help alleviate or lower the severity of the complications associated with chemotherapy. If possible, these methods should be undertaken several days or even weeks before any planned chemotherapy is begun and should be continued well after the chemotherapy has completed.