​About Radiation Oncology

Chemotherapy characteristics

Chemotherapy (also called chemo) is a type of cancer treatment that uses drugs to destroy cancer. Chemotherapy works by stopping or slowing the growth of cancer cells, which grow and divide quickly. But it can also harm healthy cells that divide quickly, such as those that line your mouth and intestines or cause your hair to grow. Damage to healthy cells may cause side effects. Often, side effects get better or go away after chemotherapy is over.Depending on your type of cancer and how advanced it is, chemotherapy can:

Cure cancer - when chemotherapy destroys cancer cells to the point that your doctor can no longer detect them in your body and they will not grow back.

Control cancer - when chemotherapy keeps cancer from spreading, slows its growth, or destroys cancer cells that have spread to other parts of your body.

Ease cancer symptoms (also called palliative care) - when chemotherapy shrinks tumors that are causing pain or pressure.

Sometimes, chemotherapy is used as the only cancer treatment. But more often, you will get chemotherapy along with surgery, radiation therapy, or biological therapy. Chemotherapy can:

• Make a tumor smaller before surgery or radiation therapy. This is called neo-adjuvant chemotherapy.
• Destroy cancer cells that may remain after surgery or radiation therapy. This is called adjuvant chemotherapy.
• Help radiation therapy and biological therapy work better
• Destroy cancer cells that have come back (recurrent cancer) or spread to other parts of your body (metastatic cancer)

You may receive chemotherapy during a hospital stay, at home, or outpatient unit in a hospital (which means you do not have to stay overnight). No matter where you go for chemotherapy, your doctor and nurse will watch for side effects and make any needed drug changes.