Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to destroy cancer cells. It usually works by keeping the cancer cells from growing, dividing, and making more cells. Because cancer cells usually grow and divide faster than normal cells, chemotherapy has more of an effect on cancer cells. However, the drugs used for chemotherapy are powerful, and they can still cause damage to healthy cells. This damage causes the side effects that are linked with chemotherapy.
Different types of chemotherapy
Treatment with these powerful drugs is called standard chemotherapy, traditional chemotherapy, or cytotoxic chemotherapy.
The goals of chemotherapy
The goals of chemotherapy depend on the type of cancer and how far it has spread. Sometimes, the goal of treatment is to get rid of all the cancer and keep it from coming back. If this is not possible, you might receive chemotherapy to delay or slow cancer growth.
Delaying or slowing cancer growth with chemotherapy also helps manage symptoms caused by the cancer. Chemotherapy given with the goal of delaying cancer growth is sometimes called palliative chemotherapy.
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