In 2013, the United States was said to have an estimated 1.6 million cancer patients. The majority of cancer patients turn to chemotherapy in hope to kill off all the spreading cancer cells so they can have a chance to live again. Chemotherapy is defined as the use of any drug to treat any disease, however people most commonly associate chemotherapy with drugs used to treat cancer. Although chemotherapy could be very effective, the rate of success solely depends on the type of cancer the patient has and could potentially be only one or two percent successful.
Cancer is a method by which normal cells of the body mutate and develop quickly into abnormal cells. As early as the 1880s, the only method of treatment of cancer was a radical surgery. This same method of treatment continued into the 1980s. Before chemotherapy, people were treated with comfort measures, meaning they were given drugs to help relieve the pain until they died. Also, before the 1950s, if you were admitted into a hospital with a cancer that could not be treated with surgery, it was understood you were there to die. In the beginning of the 20th century, treatment for cancer consisted of removing small cancers and those that were easily removed by surgery. Later on, radiation therapy was used to prevent the growth of those tumors that were not removed during surgery; then, chemotherapy was used to remove even smaller tumors that could not be removed by surgery or treated by radiation.
The chemotherapy drug did not start out as a treatment at all. A chemical agent known as mustard gas was used in combat during World War I, and later studied during World War II. It was found to be effective in fighting the cancers of the bone marrow cells. This cancer, known as...
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... other treatments, like surgery or radiation, to kill any leftover cells that are still in the body. Chemo can also be used in the form of neoadjuvant therapy to shrink tumors to prepare for other forms of treatment, or in the form of palliative therapy to relieve pain. Today, doctors are using chemotherapy for other diseases besides cancer, such as bone marrow diseases and immune system disorders.
In my opinion, chemotherapy will still be used in the future for cancerous diseases. I believe researchers will come to find that other severe diseases, besides bone marrow disease, can also use chemotherapy for treatment. I feel that our society today is known for being strong and not giving up hope, especially when an aggressive diseases attacks. Because of this, more patients will choose to endure chemotherapy treatments in hope for success at the end of the journey.
1. Chemotherapy tends to be the conventional lung cancer treatment used that everyone has heard of. Today it uses a cocktail of over 100 different drugs and works by destroying the cancerous cells and stopping their spread. However, although considered to be an acceptable treatment, it does tend to cause many unwanted side-effects.
For example, advanced cancer, or that which has metastasized to different parts of the body, often carries a terminal diagnosis, but it can be treated with chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. However, this route requires aggressive treatment at the expense of quality of life.
Because of advancements in technology and funding survival rates have increased in each patient and quality of life due to better chemotherapy and radio therapy drugs are helping millions of survivors round the world to lead a generally normal life without the risk of the cancer returning.
Cancer is a disease in which cells multiply out of control and gradually build a mass of tissue called a tumor. There has been a large amount of research dedicated to the treatment and cure of cancer. Several types of treatments have been developed. The following are just some of the major examples of cancer therapy: surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, biologic therapy, biorhythms, unconventional treatments, and hyperthermia. Each type of treatment is discussed in detail below.
For cancer patients there are several treatment options. Surgery can remove cancerous tumors, chemotherapy uses drugs for treatment, and radiation therapy. The doctor in charge of the patient’s treatment may also choose to use radiation therapy. “Radiation
People have used Carol W. Greider work to discover how aging and cancer occurs to the human body. Scientists have found how to get rid of cancer and even small telomerase. They found that small telomerase is not needed for survival. When someone has cancer, different medicines or therapies kill off cancer and even mutated telomerase. There are also other therapies such as radiation therapy, hormone therapy, and even immunotherapy. Surgery is used to remove some types of cancers, but not all.
Treatment is when a person has a disease or illness and is taking medication to cure or manage the disease. A treatment for an ear infection is antibiotics for so many days. The ear infection will then go away. A treatment for cancer is chemo or radiation in hopes the patient goes into remission and becomes cancer free. Treatments are usually a medication and given after a person is affected by an illness or disease. Some treatments are short term while others may last years.
According to “Medical News Today” cancer is a disease that is caused by an over growth of anomalous cells on one or more lungs. Cells often go up the air pipes which can cause difficulty to breath. Due to the over production of cells the tissue cells often begin to over produce; which results in tumors. There are two types of tumors: malignant and benign. Malignant tumors are the more dangerous of the two due to its invasive nature; which makes it cancerous. While benign is not invasive in other words non-cancerous. This is why cancer spreads to multiple areas and can be sometimes very difficult to fight. Cancer cells are abnormal not only because of their evasive nature, but also because of its irregular life cycle. Rather than expire like a regular cell, they continuously grow and duplicate which causes the disease to spread. This makes cell abnormal in shape and other qualities; known as a sickle cell. Due to the large growth and reproduction rate of the cells this makes the spreading of the cancer more rapid. Each cancer has specific symptom, for lung cancer the sympto...
According to SEER Statistics, 23,380 people are estimated to get a brain or nervous system cancer diagnosis. Out of those people, 14,320 people are estimated to die from their brain or nervous system cancer diagnosis (National Cancer Institute). Cancer is a type of dangerous tumor, or a buildup of extra cells that form a mass of tissue, that can be life threatening (National Cancer Institute). The term for a tumor that is cancerous is a malignat tumor, whereas a benign tumor does not contain cancer cells (National Cancer Institute). According to the National Cancer Institute, the causes of brain cancer are unknown, but risk factors include family history and excessive radiaton exposure. Although they are not always due to a brain tumor, comon symptoms include headaches, nausea, speech, hearing, vision, and mood changes, problems with balance and mamories, seizures, and numbness in arms and legs (National Cancer Institute). MRI and CT scans as well as surgical biposies (or the removal of part of the tumor to be examined) are used to diagnose brain cancer (National Cancer Institute). Different types of treatment options include radiation therapy, surgery to remove the tumor, and chemotherapy. According to Charles Davis, MD, PhD and Nitin Tandon, MD of WebMD.com, chemotherapy is “ the use of powerful drugs to kill tumor cells”. There are a few different types of chemotherapy, but all of which bring out the same kinds of side effects. Although the physical side effects of chemotherapy are commonly known, few people know of the emotional toll chemotherapy can take on a patient and his or her family as they go though this process.
When we hear the words, cancer treatment, our minds naturally shoot straight to chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is one of the most commonly used ways to treat cancer. Chemotherapy did not have original plans to treat cancer patients, but it did have other plausible problems to aid. After WWII, lymphoma, a form of chemotherapy, was used to help soldiers who were harmed by mustard gas (Chemo Brain, 2012). This medical advancement continued to progress into what we now know as chemotherapy. However, no action takes precedence without effects, good or bad. Although chemotherapy is given to cancer patients in hopes of a positive outcome, chemo can have negative effects. Common effects that are seen in cancer patients who have received a form of chemotherapy treatment may experience: “chemo brain”, anemia, and nausea along with vomiting (Chemo Brain, 2012). Like any drug/treatment, chemotherapy can have a negative impact on a cancer patient.
Cancer is a disease that affects human somatic cells. It causes the cells to divide uncontrollably and form masses known as tumors. There are two different types of cancer tumors. Some tumors are benign and other tumors are malignant. Benign tumors look similar to the tissues that they came from and develop slowly. The tumor remains in the same area that the tumor originated in. Malignant tumors are formed from cells that do not resemble the tissue that they came from. They vary in shape and size. This enables pieces of the tumor to break off and spread to other places in the body. Over the past few decades cancer has become a very prominent disease. There are many different types of cancer and many different causes for the the disease. Most cancers are because of a genetic mutation. The most common type occur when a cell is dividing. Proto-oncogenes, which are alleles in a normal cells, mutate to form oncogenes. These oncogenes cause cancer because they do not allow the cells to self destruct or become epistatic. There have been several research projects which have been testing epistatis.
We now can find what specific cancer a patient has and where, and give them a variety of treatment options such as surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and several other types of treatment including experimental drugs. But there is no 100% guarantee that these treatments work. Ancient physicians and surgeons knew that cancer usually came back after it was removed surgically and recognized that there was no cure once the cancer had spread, and thought that intervention may be more harmful that no treatment at all. Some people today still think of cancer as incurable and wait until the last minute to go to the doctor. Galen was a 2nd- century Greek doctor that claimed a breast cancer tumor could be completely removed if it was caught at an early enough
What exactly is Chemotherapy and why would it also kill “good” cells? Cancer could be described as the disease that sends cells out of control, rapidly multiplying the cells, until it harms the body. Chemotherapy is an effective drug treatment intended to treat individuals with various forms of cancer. Generally, this type of treatment is nonspecific, and non-molecular that uses chemical agents to break down all dividing cells. Chemotherapy, or chemo for short, destroys cancer cells, and can also cease the reproduction or spreading of these cells. Despite having apparent benefits, this type of treatment comes at a cost, presenting several disadvantages and side effects. Chemotherapy comes with a heavy burden, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, anemia, infections, and fatigue is a few of the short-term side effects. This analysis examines chemotherapy as a type of cancer treatment, as well as evaluating complimentary and alternative medicines.
Because 7.6 million people die from cancer every year, action should be taken to find a permanent and effective cure. There is no reason why cancer patients should not receive effective and affordable treatment. Even though there are cancer treatments currently, these treatments being effective, they are costly and cause great pain to the patient.
The National Cancer Institute says that one in two will get cancer during their lifetime. The cancer drug is a key part in the treatment for these people. As of now, there are more than 100 cancer drugs in use. These drugs can kill cancer cells or at least slow down the growth. The difference between regular cells and cancer cells is that cancer cells divide rapidly, while healthy cells don’t. These drugs aren’t perfect and may also hit the normal cells, which can cause many side effects. Many of the cancer cells can resist the cancer drugs. These drugs are usually given in a tablet form, injection, or infusion by a device called a port. The port inserts it into the blood vessel or body cavity.