Chemotherapy: How many types are there? | healthcareonline

Chemotherapy is a term commonly used when referring to the treatment that must be followed when trying to beat cancer. However, in reality, Chemotherapy refers to the treatment of disease using only chemicals.

In that sense, the first modern chemotherapeutic agent was arphenamine. It is an arsenic compound discovered in 1909 and used to treat syphilis. Later, sulfonamides and penicillins followed to combat the disease. Other uses So-called chemotherapy is the treatment of autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis. Dermatitis Polymyositis, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and suppression of transplant rejection.

If we focus on chemotherapy specifically for cancer treatment, we will find this. It began in the early 1940s. A time when the anti-cancer drug industry began building a multi-million dollar future. Cancer therapy is more specifically called cancer therapy. “Antineoplastic chemotherapy” And their medicines are called anti-cell drugs or cytotoxic drugs,” and their main purpose is to destroy tumor cells to achieve disappearance, arrest, or reduction of the disease.

And what will he do?

The process of healthy cell division is controlled by mechanisms that determine when to divide. And because cancerous tumors are essentially the opposite. This is because they are made up of altered cells that can multiply uncontrollably. and may even invade and affect adjacent or distant organs. Chemotherapy acts during the dividing stage of tumor cells. Prevents the proliferation and ultimately destroys cancer cells.

The disadvantages of this type of cancer treatment are well known and the side effects can be serious. This is because anticancer drugs cannot differentiate between healthy and damaged cells. It affects all tissues in the body equally. The most common side effects include immune suppression. asthenia Mucosal inflammation and hair loss. Such effects are usually temporary. Even if it is not controlled or accepted by the patient. cause toxicity and resulted in the need to temporarily suspend chemotherapy.

Additionally, while you are being treated for cancer. A person may experience nausea and vomiting. diarrhea or constipation Anemia due to bone marrow damage Or you can become infertile because certain chemotherapy drugs destroy sex hormone-producing cells and reproductive cells, rendering a person’s reproductive system useless. It may also cause asthenia, which is a disorder characterized by general feelings of tiredness, tiredness, and physical or mental weakness

Therefore, in an effort to alleviate side effects In the past few years Anticancer drugs are therefore designed to act directly on abnormal proteins in cancer cells. It’s called targeted therapy.

There are many types of chemotherapy.

Although this is not the only treatment available for cancer. Because it can be used in conjunction with surgery and radiation therapy. collectively called “Integrated or multidisciplinary treatment”

In any case It depends on the purpose and pharmacological combination. The following types of chemotherapy are distinguished:

• Treatment: The objective is to treat the disease when it is at an appropriate distance.
• sustain: The aim is to control symptoms caused by the tumor. which is at an advanced stage and cannot be operated upon Therefore, we strive to improve the quality of life of patients as much as possible as well as increase their survival rate.
• assistant: It is generally given after primary treatment, such as surgery, to reduce the incidence of metastasis.
• Neoadjuvant or induction : Started before surgery or radiation therapy to assess the effectiveness of treatment. It will help reduce the length of the tumor. This can improve the results of surgery and radiation therapy, and in some cases, the response received after surgery is considered a prognostic factor.
• Single chemotherapy: Giving only one anti-tumor drug It consists of carefully rotating the available drug in cycles by giving a single compound until the pathology is controlled.
• Chemotherapy: The combination of several cytotoxic drugs with different mechanisms of action works together to reduce the dose of each and increase the therapeutic potential of all the agents together.
• Combined chemotherapy: It is administered in combination with chemotherapy to help achieve better results.

Chemotherapy is given in cycles.

Alternate between treatment sessions and rest periods. This alternation is necessary to give the body’s healthy cells the time they need to recover. to be able to withstand new cycles of treatment in a less toxic manner

There are many ways to manage cancer treatment. Whether intravenous This is the most commonly used method of administration today orally. Although this option is only possible with drugs that can be absorbed through the stomach or intestines.

With all this knowledge We can conclude that chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer. It is the dominant power in our day.And almost the only possible method today is an invasive and dangerous treatment that must be faced calmly and patiently, which, although it can save us from malignant tumors and return us to a completely normal life. But it can destroy our bodies. and failed in its mission to eliminate tumor cells. It makes the person’s condition worse.

The key, experts in the field insist, is this. To be successful Therapy must be faced with humor and encouragement. Don’t allow yourself to be overcome by laziness. fatigue or bad ideas and believe that recovery will occur, that it is possible and that things will get better. In summary, the patient’s mental state is often a determining factor in cancer treatment.