Chemotherapy

Breast cancer can now be treated using chemotherapy (treatment of anti cancer medication that the patient can take either intravenously or orally).  The medication provided during chemotherapy is carried by the bloodstream and reaches the cancer cells in most body tissues and organs.

Often breast cancer chemotherapy is used  after a lumpectomy or mastectomy on a patient as an additional (adjuvant) treatment in order to help reduce the risk of the cancer reoccurring.  It can also be used to treat the forms of cancer which have spread to other organs as well.  There is a form of chemotherapy called neoadjuvant therapy which can be given before a surgical procedure which reduces the size of the tumor to a point where it can be removed by lumpectomy rather than the patient having to have a full mastectomy.

In some cases breast cancer chemotherapy is used to check how a patient will respond to certain combinations of drugs.

But the best results breast cancer chemotherapy give are those when it is used an adjuvant therapy and is made up of several anti cancer drugs.  During the last 30 years several research studies have tried to determine what combination of drugs are most effective for treating this form of cancer and researchers are still looking for even better forms of breast cancer chemotherapy that those already discovered and which are used.

There are various side effects caused by being treated with chemotherapy but it all depends on the types and quantity of drugs as well as the treatment duration time.  Some of the more common short term side effects of this treatment include nausea, fatigue, vomiting, mouth sores, loss of hair and loss of appetite.  Women may also find that their menstrual cycle changes and this can either be temporary or permanent.  It may also affect a patient’s blood marrow as well.

There are a number of remedies for many of the short term side effects caused by chemotherapy such as drugs which will help your bone marrow to recover and others that help to reduce vomiting and nausea that some patients feel.

A more possible permanent side effect of chemotherapy is the patient has a premature menopause or becomes infertile.  Certainly in older patients who are being treated with breast cancer chemotherapy the risks of becoming infertile or having a premature menopause are increased.

There is a particular drug called Adriamycin which is used in breast cancer chemotherapy can sometimes lead to heart damage when used in high doses or for extended periods of time.  But doctors when using this drug will control the dose of this drug to a patient carefully and use several different tests to help monitor a patient’s heart.

There is another potential negative result when being treated with chemotherapy and this is “Chemo Brain”.  A number of patients who have had breast cancer chemotherapy have experienced certain side effects such as difficulty in concentrating and being able to remember things.  This side effect may last quite a long time and can be so severe that it interferes with the patient’s capacity of performing intellectual tasks.

In fact a large amount of women who have been receiving breast cancer chemotherapy have reported that they do not feel as healthy as they did before starting the treatment and in some cases have had feelings of bodily pain or a decrease in being able to do physical tasks.  But these effects can only be revealed once a thorough questioning of the patient has been carried out.

In the last couple of years it has been shown that some patients being treated with breast cancer chemotherapy have developed acute myeloid leukemia (a very rare side effect) and this severe type of cancer affects the white bloods cells in the body.
But the benefits that breast cancer chemotherapy provide in fighting the disease and preventing a further reoccurrence of the disease outweigh the side effects even the very serious or extremely rare ones mentioned above.