Chemotherapy treatment
Even after surgery to remove a tumor, the body might still have cancer cells. The cancer cells can spread or grow new tumors to other body parts. Undergoing the chemo session has helped many patients to live a healthy and normal life. This is because cancer treatment has advanced in India which helps the patient to live a better life.
Chemotherapy drugs help shrink, destroy, or control those cells. It can even help to treat cancer symptoms like pain. Before the surgery, the doctor can suggest a chemo session to shrink the tumor. Fortunately, the cancer treatment cost in India is affordable as compared to other countries.
How does chemotherapy help to treat cancer?
The chemotherapy drug can work in different ways which include:
- Kill both cancerous and healthy cells
- Fight only cancer cells
- Attack the cancer cells’ genes so they can die and they do not grow into new tumors
- Keep tumors from growing on blood vessels, which helps them thrive
How are chemotherapy medications for cancer divided into groups?
There are many chemotherapy drugs which the oncologists can prescribe depending on your condition. They are divided into groups based on their work and what they are made of. Each drug group can have its way of shrinking or destroying the cancer cells.
How does chemotherapy alkylating agents can treat cancer?
Alkylating agents are drugs that damage the DNA of cancer cells so that they do not make their copies and it is the oldest chemotherapy type. They help in treating different cancer types such as Hodgkin’s disease, lymphoma, leukemia, sarcoma, and multiple myeloma. Some of the examples of alkylating agents include melphalan, temozolomide, and cyclophosphamide. They kill the harmful cancer cells but in the process, the bone marrow can get destroyed which can result in leukemia in later years. To reduce this risk factor, you can take the drugs in small amounts. One of the types of an alkylating agent, oxaliplatin, cisplatin, or platinum drugs like carboplatin can reduce the chances of occurrence of leukemia.
How is cancer treated with antimetabolite chemotherapy?
These chemo drugs stop the cancer cell growth and doctors use these medications for patients diagnosed with breast, ovaries, and intestine cancer and Leukemia. Drugs in this group include the following:
- 5-fluorouracil
- 6-mercaptopurine
- Cytarabine
- Gemcitabine
- Methotrexate
How cancer can be treated with mitotic inhibitor chemotherapy?
With these drugs, the cancer cells do not make copies of themselves. They can even stop the growth of protein cancer cells which they need for growth. Doctors can prescribe you these for lung & breast cancer along with other types of lymphoma, leukemia, and myeloma. The mitotic inhibitors will include the following:
- Docetaxel
- Estramustine
- Paclitaxel
