Medical Oncology
What is Medical Oncology?
It uses the most current standards of care available. Medical Oncology doctors use chemotherapy, biotherapy, immunotherapy, and radiopharmaceuticals to treat cancer.
What is Chemotherapy?
Chemotherapy is the use of cytotoxic (anti-cancer) medications to kill cancer cells. There are many different types of chemotherapeutic drugs that can be used by themselves. They can also be used in combination with one another to attack the cancer cells. How the drugs are used depends on many factors. They are the type of cancer being treated, what stage it is in, where the cancer originated, and what the cancer cells look like under the microscope.
Chemotherapy can be used alone or with cancer surgery and/or radiation therapy. This depends on what type of cancer is being treated and where it is located in the body.
How Does Chemotherapy Work?
Normal cells in the body grow, divide, function and die in a controlled manner. These cells serve a specific function within the body. Once that service is done, the cells will self-destruct and be replaced with new, healthy cells. Cancerous cells rapidly grow and divide in an uncontrolled manner and do not self-destruct, which creates a lump of cells called a tumor.
These cancerous cells do not serve any function. Chemotherapy attacks them and interferes with their ability to divide and multiply, thus killing them. Since chemotherapy attacks rapidly growing cancer cells, it will also attack rapidly growing "good" cells. These include hair follicles, the lining of the mouth, digestive system, and bone marrow.
What are the Side Effects of Chemotherapy?
Since chemotherapy attacks some healthy cells along with the cancer cells, side effects may occur. They include hair loss or thinning, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, pain, and suppression of the immune system. Although these are unpleasant, many of these side effects can be managed with proper hydration, anti-emetic (or anti-nausea) drugs, pain medications, and proper nutrition. Most side effects are short-lived and resolve once treatment ends.
How is Chemotherapy Given?
Most chemotherapy is given intravenously (injection of a drug into a vein or artery). Some chemotherapy is given orally as a tablet or capsule, subcutaneously (under the skin) or intramuscularly (into the muscle). There are also a few chemotherapy creams used for different types of skin cancer.
