While surgery and radiation therapy are the best treatments for localized cancers, chemotherapy is used to treat cancer cells that have spread from the primary source to other parts of the body (metastasized). Chemotherapy can be used to cure cancer, to prevent it from spreading, to slow the growth of the cancer, to destroy cancerous cells that have moved to other parts of the body and to help relieve some of the symptoms caused by the cancer. The purpose the chemotherapy will actually serve all depends on the type of cancer you have and its stage of development.
Chemotherapy uses powerful medicines that are given either through the mouth or by injection. It is different from radiation or surgery in that it can treat cancers that have spread throughout the body by traveling through the body via the bloodstream. Rather than a single drug, a combination of chemotherapy is often used.
A chemotherapy treatment regime is given in cycles so that there is a recovery period following each treatment period. A total course has an average length of 6 months, but can fall anywhere in a range from 3 to 9 months. Chemotherapy is sometimes used after surgery to reduce the risk of it returning. The chances of this happening and the benefits of chemotherapy are largely dependent on the type of cancer and other personal factors.
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