Treatment can help patients feel better by relieving symptoms such as bone pain. However, it is hard to limit the effects of therapy so that only cancer cells are destroyed. Because healthy cells also may be damaged, treatment can cause unpleasant side effects. The side effects that patients have during cancer treatment vary for each person. They may even be different from one treatment to the next.
Doctors try to plan treatment to keep side effects to a minimum.
They also monitor patients very carefully so they can help with any problems that occur. The side effects of chemotherapy depend on the drugs that are given. In general, anticancer drugs affect rapidly growing cells, such as blood cells that fight infection, cells that line the digestive tract, and cells in hair follicles. As a result, patients may have lower resistance to infection, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, or mouth sores. Patients also may have less energy and may lose their hair.