There are many treatment options available when cancer patients choose to undergo chemotherapy. These can vary significantly depending on the stage, type and location of the cancer. Some patients may opt for multiple types of treatments that include but are not limited to chemotherapy. A number of specialized cancer treatment centers across the United States allows patients to work with individual doctors who offer a variety treatment options.
Primary vs. Complementary Treatment
Patients and doctors can work together to make the best choice as to whether chemotherapy should be the main course of treatment or whether it should complement other treatments. In some types and stages of cancer, surgery is the primary treatment and chemotherapy is administered either before, known as neo-adjuvant, or after surgery, known as adjuvant chemotherapy.
According to MayoClinic.com, the other chemotherapy options are known as radiosensitizing, curative and palliative. Radiosensitizing refers to chemotherapy that is combined with radiation therapy. Chemotherapy is considered curative when it is the primary and sole treatment administered. Palliative chemotherapy is given when recovery is unlikely; it is given only to alleviate symptoms and possibly extend life.
Single Drug vs. Combination Therapy
Patients and doctors can also go over the benefits and drawbacks of using one or more chemotherapy drugs. Depending on the specific medication, patients may want to start by taking only one kind of chemotherapy at first. One reason is that it may take only one kind to eradicate the tumor. In addition, each chemotherapy drug has its own specific side effects and some patients may not be ready to combine more than one serious side effect at a time.
On the other hand, more advanced stages of cancer may require a combination of two or more types of chemotherapy. BreastCancer.org, an online cancer resource, states that combination therapy has several benefits. Some types of cancer are characterized by more than one kind of malignant cell and combination therapy can attack all of them. A combination of chemotherapy drugs may reduce the chances that the tumor becomes drug-resistant.
Location and Route of Administration
Chemotherapy can be administered in different ways. Specific types of cancer may be treated best by having the chemotherapy delivered directly to the site of the tumor. Other fast-spreading cancers respond well when the whole body is treated. When treating a specific site, doctors may inject the chemotherapy into a specific cavity of the body such as the abdominal area to treat ovarian cancer. Cancer Treatment Centers of America lists other methods of delivery depending on the type of cancer. These include chemoemobilization, intra-arterial and metronomic fractional doses. Used in the treatment of liver cancer, both chemoemoblization and intra-arterial methods deliver chemotherapy directly to the liver through arteries. Fractional dosing refers to delivering the chemotherapy over a course of four or five days in smaller doses rather than all at once. This reduces side effects and drug resistance.
