Chemotherapy in Jaipur
Chemotherapy: Treatment of Cancer with anti-cancer drugs and medicines.
Chemotherapy may be given with a curative intent or it may aim to prolong life or to reduce symptoms (palliative chemotherapy).
Mechanism of Action of Chemotherapy: By inhibiting the process of cell division known as mitosis and destroying cells
Chemotherapy Regimen:
- Concurrent chemotherapy: the use of chemotherapy drugs with other cancer treatments, such as radiation therapy.
- Induction chemotherapy is the first line treatment of cancer with a chemotherapeutic drug. This type of chemotherapy is used for
curative intent.
- Consolidation chemotherapy is given after remission in order to prolong the overall disease-free time and improve overall survival.
The drug that is administered is the same as the drug that achieved remission.
- Intensification chemotherapy is identical to consolidation chemotherapy but a different drug than the induction chemotherapy is
used.
- Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is given prior to a local treatment such as surgery, and is designed to shrink the primary tumor.
- Adjuvant chemotherapy is given after a local treatment (radiotherapy or surgery) to prevent recurrence.
- Maintenance chemotherapy is a repeated low-dose treatment to prolong remission.
- Salvage chemotherapy or palliative chemotherapy is given without curative intent, but simply to decrease tumor load and symptoms
and increase life expectancy.
Side-Effects:
Many of the side effects of chemotherpy can be traced to damage to normal cells and results in the most common side-effects of
chemotherapy: myelosuppression (decreased production of blood cells: Neutropenia, Thrmbocytopenia, immunosuppression)
Nausea, Vomitting, Fatigue, Mucositis (inflammation of the lining of the digestive tract), and alopecia (hair loss).