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Medical Oncology uses specialized medications, referred to as chemotherapy drugs, to control and eradicate cancerous cells throughout a patient's body. A medical oncologist is a physician responsible for managing and oversight a patient's chemotherapy regimen and the complications that may be given over several weeks, months, or years.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy, also referred to as Chemo, is a form of cancer treatment in which drugs are used to kill cancer cells, stop cancer cells from spreading and slow the growth of cancer cells.
Chemotherapy can be given alone or in conjunction with other treatments. Chemotherapy that is given before surgery or radiation therapy in order to reduce the size of a tumor is known as neoadjuvant chemotherapy. In turn, adjuvant chemotherapy is given to patients after radiation treatment or surgery.

How is Chemotherapy Administered

Chemotherapy is generally administered over several treatment cycles. Depending on the doctor's prescription and how the patient's body reacts, Chemotherapy can be delivered daily, weekly, or monthly followed by a period of rest. This period of rest is vital to continuing chemotherapy because it allows the body to recover and rejuvenate to produce healthy new cells.

Chemotherapy is typically administered in the following ways:

➤ Intravenous (IV): The chemotherapy is administered directly into the vein.

➤ Injection (Intramuscular – IM): The chemotherapy is administered by an injection into the muscle.

➤ Oral: The chemotherapy is in pill, capsule, or liquid form that is swallowed.

➤ Intra-arterial (IA): The chemotherapy is administered directly into the artery.

➤ Intra-peritoneal (IP): The chemotherapy is administered directly into the peritoneal cavity which contains organs such as the stomach, intestines, and liver.

➤ Topical: The chemotherapy is in a cream form that is rubbed onto the skin.

Benefits of Chemotherapy

Although chemotherapy is a rigorous treatment option for patients, the overall clinical outcomes can outweigh the associated side effects. Since cancer cells can rapidly evolve, it is important to target the malignant cells with chemotherapy in hopes of controlling, reducing, and preventing cell division. Chemotherapy can prevent cancer cells from metastasizing, a term used to describe the spread of cancer cells from their origin to other regions of the body.

Depending upon the type of cancer and stage of cancer, chemotherapy can be used for curative purposes. A patient is considered cured when all of the cancer cells within the body have been eradicated and cancer does not return for many years.

Also, medical oncologists often use chemotherapy in conjunction with radiation therapy and surgery. Because chemotherapy is systemic, meaning it can affect the entire body, it can kill off cancerous cells that radiation or surgery cannot address. Therefore, chemotherapy makes these other treatment options more effective in eliminating cancer when combined.