Aggressive Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is a mode of treatment which makes use of highly toxic chemical drugs to cure various types of cancers. There are nearly 300 different types of chemical drugs which are used routinely for treating cancers and as most of these are toxic drugs the side effects are seen almost immediately after the commencement of the treatment cycle. The standard mode of treatment is the use of single drug but then the use of more than one chemotherapy drug to treat a particular type of cancer is referred to as aggressive chemotherapy and in this mode of treatment the drug used is effective in controlling as well as destroying the cancer cells in the body but apart from this it also destroys the healthy normal cells which surround these cancerous cells.

This is the most effective mode of treating cancer as it has shown to give more positive results in comparison to the traditional mode of standard chemotherapy. This mode of treatment also depends upon the type of cancer as well as the stage of cancer and above all the patients’ health is also taken into count before the commencement of the treatment cycle.

As such no other treatment is required while undergoing chemotherapy but then in certain cases there may be other modes of treatment that either follows chemotherapy or precedes chemotherapy. Surgery is performed before the start of chemotherapy and apart from this radiation therapy is yet another mode of treatment which follows chemotherapy. Chemotherapy drugs are either taken orally in the form of pills or can be administered into the veins through injections.

What are the side effects associated with aggressive chemotherapy?

Almost all types of cancer treatment has its own set of side effects and aggressive chemotherapy as the name suggests has severe side effects which may lead to death’s in some cases. In order to prevent medical related deaths the doctor needs to start the treatment cycle by balancing the treatment is such a way that only the cancerous cells are destroyed leaving behind healthy and normal cells. Side effects related to chemotherapy are loss of hair, loss of memory, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, anemia, fatigue etc. Some of the side effects are temporary and disappear after the completion of the treatment cycle but in some cases the side effects are more permanent and leave behind lasting side effects leading to the malfunctioning of the body’s major body organs.

Asparaginase, methotrexate and doxorubicin are combination drugs that are administered to treat childhood leukemia, and the dosage is often increased to nearly 5 times the normal measure and is administered for a few months in order to get positive results.

Aggressive chemotherapy is helpful in destroying cancerous cells in the body but then its effectiveness is noticed only when the cancer has been detected in the early stages. There have been many instances when aggressive chemotherapy has shown failure but then it was when the cancer had been detected at a later stage or in an advance stage.

The needs of the patient is taken into consideration when aggressive chemotherapy regime is involved as in this mode of treatment the quality and the type of drug used and the frequency in which it is used is also of importance.