Table of Contents
- 1 How do doctors determine which cancer treatment to use?
- 2 What are the strongest chemotherapy drugs?
- 3 What is the drug used for chemotherapy?
- 4 What is considered a round of chemo?
- 5 Why are different drugs used to treat different types of cancer?
- 6 Why is it important to gather chemotherapy information?
How do doctors determine which cancer treatment to use?
Your doctor uses your cancer’s stage to determine your treatment options and your chances for a cure. Staging tests and procedures may include imaging tests, such as bone scans or X-rays, to see if cancer has spread to other parts of the body.
How do doctors decide between chemo and radiation?
Whether you receive chemo or radiation will depend on the type and location of your cancer, as well as your overall health status. The major difference between chemo and radiation is the way they’re delivered. Chemotherapy is delivered through an infusion into a vein or medication port, or it can be taken orally.
What are the strongest chemotherapy drugs?
Doxorubicin (Adriamycin) is one of the most powerful chemotherapy drugs ever invented. It can kill cancer cells at every point in their life cycle, and it’s used to treat a wide variety of cancers.
Is chemo stronger than radiation?
Treatments may be more effective when they’re combined. For example, chemotherapy may make radiation treatments more effective. If your doctor suggests undergoing one type of treatment before others, it’s called neoadjuvant treatment.
What is the drug used for chemotherapy?
These types of drugs are cell-cycle non-specific. There are several types of alkylating agents used in chemotherapy treatments: Mustard gas derivatives: Mechlorethamine, Cyclophosphamide, Chlorambucil, Melphalan, and Ifosfamide. Ethylenimines: Thiotepa and Hexamethylmelamine.
Which chemo is called the Red Devil?
Can the red devil be defanged? Doxorubicin, an old chemotherapy drug that carries this unusual moniker because of its distinctive hue and fearsome toxicity, remains a key treatment for many cancer patients.
What is considered a round of chemo?
A cycle of chemotherapy is repeating the way a drug or a group of drugs is given over a specific number of days. For example, one cycle may be taking the drug for every day the first week and then taking the next week off. The cycle is repeated a specific number of times.
Which type of tumor can spread from one tissue to another?
The metastatic tumor is the same type of cancer as the primary tumor. Many cancer deaths are caused when cancer moves from the original tumor and spreads to other tissues and organs. This is called metastatic cancer.
Why are different drugs used to treat different types of cancer?
Different drugs that work in different ways can work together to kill more cancer cells. This can also help lower the chance that the cancer may become resistant to any one chemo drug. Sometimes chemo is the only treatment you need. More often, chemo is used with surgery or radiation therapy or both.
Can chemo drugs tell the difference between cancer and normal cells?
However, chemo drugs can’t tell the difference between healthy cells and cancer cells. This means normal cells are damaged along with the cancer cells, and this causes side effects.
Why is it important to gather chemotherapy information?
This process of gathering chemotherapy information has helped to establish specific protocols (types of drugs, doses of drugs and schedule of drugs) based on the type of cancer, stage of cancer, and other specifics about a person’s cancer.
How are the types of chemotherapy drugs selected?
The types of chemotherapy drugs are selected based on a variety of information and factors: Research: Chemotherapy was first introduced in the 1940’s. For the next 20 years, it was considered an investigational treatment.