what are the risks and benefits of chemotherapy?
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Chemotherapy drugs can't tell the difference between cancer cells and healthy cells. When healthy cells are destroyed, you may have side effects. These include nausea and/or vomiting, fatigue, hair loss, anemia and memory problems. You may also be more prone to infections.
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Traditional chemotherapies work by killing any multiplying cell. Cancer cells multiply, but so do many other cells, which is why such therapies can also give nasty side effects, such as severe nausea and hair loss.
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Oral chemotherapy kills or weakens cancer cells, and it usually comes in the form of a pill. As with other prescription medications, people can take oral chemotherapy drugs at home.
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Chemotherapy is usually not part of the treatment regimen for earlier stages of cancer. Stage 1 is highly treatable, however, it does require immediate treatment, typically surgery and often radiation, or a combination of the two.
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['Chemotherapy-induced and postoperative nausea and vomiting.', 'Dental pain.', 'Headaches, including tension headaches and migraines.', 'Labor pain.', 'Low back pain.', 'Neck pain.', 'Osteoarthritis.', 'Menstrual cramps.']
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Overall, the median survival is approximately 6 to 7 years. For younger patients, aggressive chemotherapy with or without consolidation with high dose chemotherapy and stem cell rescue prolongs progression free survival, compared to standard therapy with a median of more than 5 years.
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Pain. Some chemo drugs cause headaches, muscle pains, stomach pains, or even temporary nerve damage, which can result in burning, numbness, or tingling in the hands and feet. If this happens, your doctor can prescribe medicines that can help.
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What are some of the potential benefits and potential risks of biotechnology? - Benefits: treatment and prevention of disease and illness, improving crop growth. - Risks: ethical concerns, privacy, potential negative health and environmental effects.
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Vitamin C may also make some chemotherapy drugs less effective. Patients should speak with their doctor before using vitamin C, especially during cancer treatment. Vitamin C does not prevent the common cold or other upper respiratory infections, but it may slightly reduce symptoms.
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Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is another rare complication in patients who have been treated for CLL. Drugs such as chlorambucil and cyclophosphamide can damage the DNA of blood-forming cells. These damaged cells may go on to become cancer, leading to AML, which is very aggressive and often hard to treat.
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['Breathing Problems.', 'Fatigue.', 'Infection, bleeding and anemia (chemotherapy can lower blood counts)', 'Stomach problems (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or constipation)', 'Changes in appearance, including hair loss.', 'Pain and discomfort.', 'Changes in sexual functioning and effects on fertility.']
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If you are handling infusion pumps or equipment, flushing intravenous lines or handling chemotherapy drugs in any form, traces of the drug can be present and can be absorbed through the skin. Cancer nurses have long known that exposing themselves to chemotherapy can be harmful to their health.
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Antioxidant supplements such as co enzyme Q10, selenium and the vitamins A, C and E can help to prevent cell damage. So some doctors think this might stop chemotherapy working well. Get advice from your doctor, specialist nurse, or dietitian if you want to take supplements and are having any kind of cancer treatment.
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Intravenous chemotherapy is free in public hospitals but patients prescribed oral chemotherapy will need to shoulder some of the cost, especially from community pharmacies. Chemo patients also need to pay for any medication they need to relieve the side-effects of the treatments, such as anti-nausea drugs.
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The chance of the chemotherapy curing your cancer depends on the type of cancer you have. Examples of cancers where chemotherapy works very well are testicular cancer and Hodgkin lymphoma. With some cancers, chemotherapy can't cure the cancer on its own. But it can help in combination with other types of treatment.
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Chemotherapy and radiation therapy can cause long-term side effects to the brain, spinal cord, and nerves. These include: Hearing loss from high doses of chemotherapy, especially drugs like cisplatin (multiple brand names) Increased risk of stroke from high doses of radiation to the brain.
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Chemotherapy is very effective in treating breast cancer. But it is not without side effects. And, in some cases, it is unnecessary, researchers say. The test, which ranks patients according to risk, has been used for years, but was recently validated in a study of more than 10,000 women.