Chemotherapy Treatment

Chemotherapy (or chemo for short) is a type of cancer therapy that uses medications to destroy cancer cells by interrupting cell division.

Depending on your specific condition, chemotherapy can:

• Control cancer by keeping it from spreading
• Cure cancer by destroying cancer cells
• Ease symptoms by shrinking tumors

Chemotherapy may be the only treatment you require, but it can also be used with other treatment options, like surgery, radiation or immunotherapy.

Your body constantly produces new cells, helping them grow and divide. With cancer cells, your body doesn’t intervene, causing cancer cells to grow out of control.

Chemotherapy medications disrupt this process. Many different chemotherapy medications exist, and your doctor will choose a chemotherapy plan that works best for you.

If you’ve had chemotherapy before or have other health problems like diabetes or heart disease, your doctor can customize your chemotherapy for the best results.

Depending on what type of chemotherapy you need, you can take it in different ways.

Injected Chemotherapy
This method delivers medication directly into your arm, thigh or hip; or right under the skin in your arm, leg or belly.

Intra-Arterial (IA) Chemotherapy
This method sends medication into the artery that feeds the cancer.

Intra-Peritoneal (IP) Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is delivered directly into the peritoneal cavity, which contains your intestines, stomach, liver and ovaries.

Intravenous Chemotherapy
This is probably the most commonly used chemotherapy. It’s delivered directly into a vein through an intravenous (IV) tube.

Oral Chemotherapy
In this method, chemotherapy is given by pill, capsule or in liquid form.

Topical Chemotherapy
You can also do chemotherapy through a cream you rub on your skin.