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How Chemotherapy Helps Treat Blood Cancer: A Beginner’s Guide
By Raveena M Prakash
Being diagnosed with blood cancer can be overwhelming and emotionally distressing for a patient and their families. This type of cancer often affects how your body produces blood cells and how well those cells work. Whether it’s leukemia, lymphoma, or multiple myeloma, one of the most common treatments recommended for this type of cancer is chemotherapy. If you are concerned about how chemotherapy for blood cancer helps to treat and cure cancer in patients, then read further!
In this article, we’ll discover more about how chemotherapy works against these types of cancer, types of chemotherapy, what to expect during chemotherapy, and its side effects, and much more!
What is blood cancer?
Blood cancer often starts when something disrupts the function of the body and how it makes blood cells. This might affect the normal function of the blood cells. Most of the types of cancer in blood cells start in the bone marrow. Bone marrow is a soft, sponge-like material in the center of the bones. Bone marrow makes stem cells mature and produce red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. However, the abnormal blood cells start to multiply rapidly and disrupt the function of normal blood cells.
Types of blood cancers
There are mainly three main types of cancer that affect the blood cells, and each comes with three subtypes.
These may include:
- Leukemia: This is the most common type of blood cancer, also found in children. Leukemia often starts in the bone marrow and can flow out into the bloodstream.
- Lymphoma: This is another type of cancer that affects the lymphatic system. These types of lymphoma cells often start in white blood cells known as lymphocytes. The most common subtypes are Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
- Myeloma: This is another type of cancer that starts in the bone marrow. This cancer often affects the white blood cells also known as plasma cells. One of the subtypes of myeloma is multiple myeloma.
How chemotherapy works against blood cancer?
Chemotherapy is also commonly known as ‘chemo.’ This is an effective treatment used for blood cancer. This treatment uses powerful drugs to kill and destroy cancer cells in the body. This type of cancer mostly spreads through the bloodstream or lymphatic system. Chemo drugs are also given directly to the blood, which makes the treatment more effective.
Here’s how chemotherapy works:
- Targets fast growing cancer cells: Cancer cells grow and multiply rapidly than normal cells, however chemotherapy disrupts this process. Damages their DNA and stops the uncontrollable cell growth.
- Drugs flow through the body: The blood cancer is not localized to any one type of tumor. The chemo drugs can flow throughout the body to identify and destroy several types of cancer cells.
- Combination therapy: Chemotherapy is used with other types of cancer treatments, which is commonly known as a combination therapy including treatments such as radiation therapy, immunotherapy, and targeted therapy to boost the effectiveness of treatments.
Types of chemotherapy treatments used for blood cancer
Depending on the diagnosis and type of blood cancer, the cancer specialists often choose one or two methods of chemotherapy treatments for patients.
These may include:
- Intravenous (IV): The chemotherapy drugs are given through the vein, which helps for a fast distribution of medicine in a patient’s body.
- Oral chemotherapy: Pills or capsules containing chemodrugs are taken orally.
- Intrathecal chemotherapy: In this method, the chemodrugs are often injected into the spinal cord, if the cancer is located in the spine or spread to the brain.
What’s to expect during chemotherapy
The treatment schedule of chemotherapy might vary in cancer patients, mainly depending on the stage and type of cancer. This often involves sessions or cycles of treatments, including the resting periods.
Before starting the chemotherapy, the doctor might perform some tests on the patients; these may include:
- Blood tests, imaging tests and scans, and several health check-ups to avoid any future complications
- Chemotherapy is usually given in hospitals and clinics. Each session or cycle can last for a few hours.
- Doctors might continuously monitor the response of patients and track your blood counts.
Here’s how you can prepare for the chemotherapy:
- Talk to your oncologists and learn more about the side effects.
- Wear comfortable clothes.
- Drink plenty of water.
- Keep essential things such as a water bottle, blanket, and snacks.
- Consider keeping a head covering with you to handle or manage hair loss.
- Make arrangements to help with transportation
- Ask your friends and family to help with household and daily chores or accompany you at chemotherapy sessions.
Side effects of chemotherapy
Chemotherapy treatments target fast-growing cancer cells. It can also destroy normal healthy cells in the body, which potentially causes side effects in the patients. Body cells, including hair follicles, blood cells, and cells in the skin, are also damaged during the treatments.
Here are some of the common side effects of chemotherapy, these may include:
- Anemia
- Bleeding
- Fatigue
- Dairhea
- Hair loss
- Infection
- Constipation
- Loss of appetite
- Nausea and vomiting
Can chemotherapy cure blood cancer?
The treatment outcome of chemotherapy can mainly depend on the type and stage of cancer. In some cases, continuing chemotherapy can often lead the patient into complete remission, which simply means that there are no signs or symptoms of cancer in the body. Chemotherapy is also tried to help and control the symptoms of cancer for long-term or prepare the body for stem cell transplantation.
Chemotherapy is also used to prevent the chance of recurrence, commonly known as adjuvant therapy. In some cases, chemotherapy has been given as a palliative treatment to manage symptoms and improve the overall quality of life.
Consult Today
Chemotherapy is an effective treatment to fight against blood cancer. However, it can be tough to see your loved ones undergoing chemotherapy treatments. Understanding how chemotherapy works on cancer patients helps to empower the patients. With the right treatment approach and proper care, most cancer patients can lead a healthy and improved quality of life after chemotherapy treatments.
At Oncare, we offer high-quality cancer treatments at affordable price packages with an experienced cancer specialist consultation.
If you or any loved ones of yours are diagnosed with cancer, then visit Oncare Cancer Center and book an appointment with our cancer specialist consultation today! Get an estimated cost of chemotherapy treatments today!
Frequently Asked Questions
Some of the most common side effects of chemotherapy:
- Fatigue
- Hair loss
- Skin changes
- Nausea and vomiting
- Changes in bowel habits
- Difficulty in eating
- Weakened immune system
- Bruising and bleeding
- Brain fog
- Trouble thinking
- Sex and fertility problems
Patients often receive several types of drugs in combination to achieve the best results in blood cancer patients. Chemotherapy drugs are typically infused into the blood through an IV. In some cases the patients might receive chemotherapy as a pill. Chemotherapy is delivered in sessions or cycles, giving patients a gap of time to heal from the treatments.
Some of the side effects might go away a few months after completing the chemotherapy treatments. Studies suggest that it takes approximately six months to a year for the majority of cancer patients to regain their previous energy levels.
These may include:
- Fatigue
- Peripheral neuropathy
- Brain fog
- Bone loss