How is chemotherapy used?
Sometimes, chemotherapy is used as the only cancer treatment. But more often, you will get chemotherapy along with surgery, radiation therapy, or biological therapy. Chemotherapy can: • Make a tumor smaller before surgery or radiation therapy. This is called neo-adjuvant chemotherapy. • Destroy cancer cells that may remain after surgery or radiation therapy. This is called adjuvant chemotherapy. • Help radiation therapy and biological therapy work better. • Destroy cancer cells that have come back (recurrent cancer) or spread to other parts of your body (metastatic cancer). How does my doctor decide which chemotherapy drugs to use? This choice depends on: • The type of cancer you have. Some types of chemotherapy drugs are used for many types of cancer. Other drugs are used for just one or two types of cancer. • Whether you have had chemotherapy before • Whether you have other health problems, such as diabetes or heart disease Where do I go for chemotherapy? You may receive chemotherapy
