There are over 50 different types of chemotherapy medication which can be used to treat hundreds of different types of cancer.
However, they all work in one of the following two ways:
- They stop cells from reproducing, which can be very useful in preventing the spread of cancer.
- They essentially “trick” cells into self-destructing.
All human cells have a limited lifespan. They eventually die and are replaced by new cells. Chemotherapy medications make the cancer cells “think” that their lifespan has finished.
Depending on the type of cancer you have, you may be given:
- monotherapy – where only one chemotherapy medication is used
- combination therapy – where a combination of different medications is used
When is chemotherapy given?
Depending on the type and severity of your cancer, chemotherapy will be given at different stages of your treatment. You may receive chemotherapy:
- before having surgery to remove a tumour or radiotherapy to shrink it, so that other treatments can then begin (this is known as neo-adjuvant therapy)
- in combination with radiotherapy, which is known as chemoradiation
- after having surgery or radiotherapy, which is known as adjuvant therapy
Chemotherapy protocols
You will need to have regular chemotherapy over a set period of time for it to be effective.
Your care team will draw up a treatment plan that gives details of how many sessions you will need, how long the course should last, and how much time should pass between each session. It is common for there to be a break after each session to allow your body to recover from the effects of the medication.
This treatment plan is known as a chemotherapy protocol. Chemotherapy protocols vary depending on the type of cancer you have and how advanced it is.
An example of a chemotherapy protocol is:
- one day of treatment
- seven days of rest
- one day of treatment
- 21 days of rest
This cycle will then be repeated six times over 18 weeks.
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How chemotherapy works
