Breast cancer has become one of the most popular keywords among browsers. Thus, it is important to know how breast cancer and other cancers form and what kinds of standard treatments are available for this dreaded disease.
One of the most popular is chemotherapy.
What is chemotherapy?
Chemotherapy (also known as chemo) is one of the standard treatments available to cancer patients.
It is a process that involves the intense use of drugs to inhibit the rapid growth and division of cancer cells by preventing them from multiplying during cell division (called “mitosis”) or by destroying the cells themselves.
Chemotherapy may be given in the form of pills or by infusion, injection or directly on the skin. Treatment depends on the type and stage of the cancer being treated.
Chemotherapy may be considered a distinct cancer treatment or used in combination with other treatments such as surgery, radiation therapy, hormone therapy and targeted treatment.
Mechanism of chemotherapy for breast cancer
In breast cancer, cells grow uncontrollably as a result of mutations. In a broad sense, chemotherapy drugs work by disrupting mitosis. Some chemotherapy drugs act on resting cells, as well as actively dividing cells.
Others act on cells only during specific stages of the cell cycle. For example, Cyclophosphamide (Alkylatin) binds to DNA exactly when the cell is replicating its DNA. By preventing the synthesis phase, the drugs halt mitosis.
Taxanes (Taxol, Taxotere) thwarts cells from splitting into two daughter cells. They hinder the equal division of DNA between the two cells, thus preventing cell division.
Another theory indicates that chemotherapeutic drugs actuate “Apoptosis”, which is known as programmed cell death.
Resistance of cancer cells
Resistance is a major cause of chemotherapy failure. One of many reasons is the presence of excessive pumps on the surface of cancer cells that actively pump chemotherapeutic drugs outside the cells.
They are called P-glycoproteins and are produced to protect cancer cells from being destroyed. Research on P-glycoprotein is currently being conducted in order to develop drugs that inhibit the presence of these pumps.
Another mechanism cancer cells use to resist chemotherapy drugs is gene amplification. This means cancer cells multiply copies of genes.
When there’re too many genes produced, drugs alone cannot completely prevent all the gene expression. Therefore, the cell can restore its ability to proliferate.
Side effects and causality
Some recognisable side effects of chemotherapy are nausea, vomiting, decreased blood cell count, fatigue, hair loss, pain and mouth sores.
Chemotherapy drugs are designed to inhibit and destroy all cells in general whether malignant or healthy.
Thus, it is inevitable that fast-dividing cells such as hair, and tunica mucosa pharynx, the membrane-lined cavity behind the nose and mouth connecting them to the oesophagus, are also destroyed.
As such, chemotherapy’s side effects wreak havoc on a patient’s life and mental health. Patients may feel, at some point during chemotherapy, anxious, depressed, frustrated, lonely, helpless and hopeless.
The extreme fatigue it can cause, can make it harder for patients to cope with their feelings.
Of course, prevention is best but once a patient has been diagnosed with cancer, one of the most effective ways to protect them is still chemotherapy.
This article first appeared in hellodoktor.com. It was reviewed by Dr Duyen Le. The Hello Health Group does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.