Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy Treatment and Mesothelioma

By now, chemotherapy is a sadly familiar word all over world as it is the most common form of treatment for mesothelioma and other types of cancer and also one of the most effective treatment options. Since the 1940’s, chemotherapy research has continued to advance as medical researchers develop new chemotherapy drug treatments and learn more about the nature of cancer cells. Today, a cure for mesothelioma and other forms of cancer still eludes medical science but great strides have been made and a breakthrough could occur anytime.

What is Chemotherapy?

Chemotherapy is the use of combinations of drugs to kill cancer cells or interfere with cancer cell division. As cancer cells tend to divide very rapidly and spread to other parts of the body, a great deal of research is conducted on drugs designed to retard cancer cells’ ability to multiply. What makes this research so challenging is that there are many different types of cancer and the cells of each type behave a bit differently. Finding drugs that attack cancer cells but don’t limit the division of normal cells in our bodies is tremendously difficult. Further complicating the issue is that finding the right combination of chemotherapy drugs which are somewhat effective for one cancer may or may not produce positive results for another.

How Chemotherapy Works

Chemotherapy drugs are usually administered intravenously and distributed through the body in the bloodstream. Depending on the type of cancer, where the cancer is located, and its stage of development, drugs are occasionally injected directly into a cancerous tumor to maximize their effects and minimize their impact on the surrounding healthy tissue.  Many times, chemotherapy is combined with radiation treatment to alleviate pain and shrink the size of a cancerous tumor.

Types of Chemotherapy

  • Palliative Chemotherapy – A form of chemotherapy which treats the symptoms of the cancer rather than the cancer itself and improves the patient’s quality of life by reducing pain and debilitating symptoms.
  • Combined Modality Chemotherapy – The combination of chemotherapy with surgery, radiation therapy, and other treatment methods.
  • Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) – This form of chemotherapy involves administering precise doses of modulated radiation directly into a cancerous mass or tumor.
  • Adjuvant Chemotherapy – Also known as postoperative chemotherapy, this is usually administered as a precautionary measure to prevent cancer reoccurrence.
  • Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy – This form of chemotherapy is administered before cancer surgery in an effort to shrink a cancerous mass. Also known as preoperative chemotherapy.

Side Effects of Chemotherapy

The most common chemotherapy side effects result from chemotherapy preventing normal cell division in our bodies which causes hair loss, nausea, and loss of appetite but other side effects include:

  • Constipation
  • Vomiting
  • A weakened immune system
  • Diarrhea
  • Lower red blood cell counts
  • Cardiovascular disease
  • Loss of fertility
  • A variety of tissue toxicity conditions
  • And many others

Although some of the side effects of chemotherapy may be unpleasant, new types and combinations of treatment are adding years to the lives of cancer patients well beyond the initial prognoses. Some types of chemotherapy are in-patient procedures and require spending time in a hospital for further testing and monitoring, more and more chemotherapy is done on an out-patient basis. While many uncertainties still remain about cancer and chemotherapy, the more we learn about them, the closer we get to finding a cure and eliminating mesothelioma and other types of cancer and saving the millions of lives cancer claims each year.