Cancer of the lower intestine, or colon, is initiated by the abnormal growth of cells lining the interior of the colon. Fortunately, colon cancer is slow growing, taking years to progress. Due to this slow growth, early detection of the cancer increases the likelihood of successful treatment of the disease. Depending upon severity, colon cancer is commonly treated with a combination of surgical techniques, radiation therapy, or chemotherapy. The type of chemotherapy used by an oncologist to treat colon cancer is dependent on the person being treated and the stage of the cancer.
Types
Currently, there are several chemotherapeutic options available to physicians to treat colon cancer. According to Colon Cancer Resource, there are approximately eight different drugs that are commonly selected for treatment of colon cancer. The brand names of these drugs include, Adrucil, Camptosar, Erbitux, Xeloda, Wellcovorin, Vectibix, Eloxatin, and Avastin. All of these drugs target a different aspect of colon cancer to effectively kill the tumor or slow its growth.
Function
Chemotherapy drugs that are used to treat colon cancer have one intended goal: to kill or slow the growth of the cancerous tissue. However, most of these drugs function a little differently in their mechanism of cell death. Drugs like Aldrucil and Xeloda are classified as anti-metabolites because they disrupt the normal metabolism of cancer cells causing them to stop dividing and growing. Eloxatin is called an alkylating agent and it works by damaging the DNA of rapidly dividing cells, causing them to die. Erbitux, Vectibix and Vastin are forms of targeted cancer therapy because they target a specific protein that is essential to the colon cancer cells. By blocking or neutralizing these essential proteins, they can slow down or kill the cancerous growth.
Benefits
The benefits of chemotherapeutic treatment for colon cancer can be a complete cure of the cancer, cancer control and management, or to ease the other uncomfortable symptoms caused by the cancer. Failure to receive treatment will only allow the tumor or tumors to continue to grow and progress to late stage IV, where the cancer has metastasized to other organs, primarily the liver. At this late stage, the prospects of successful treatment strategies are slim and the expected survival time is minimal.
Side Effects
While there are significant benefits to receiving chemotherapy drugs to treat cancer, there are also some drawbacks in the form of moderate-to-severe side effects. General side effects include fatigue, hair loss, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, itchy skin, muscle weakness, or numbness and tingling of the limbs. These general side effects may be accompanied by other side effects that are specific to the type of drug that is used for therapy.
Considerations
It is extremely important to thoroughly discuss your entire medical history with your oncologist prior to receiving any type of chemotherapeutic treatment for colon cancer. Failure to fully disclose this information may result in serious complications associated with the treatment. The anticancer drugs may adversely react with commonly prescribed or over-the-counter medications or they may exacerbate a previously known condition or disease.
