Basic Information About Chemotherapy

If possible, chemotherapy is used to cure the cancer, meaning that the tumor or cancer disappears and does not return. However, most doctors do not use the word "cure" except as a possibility or intention. When giving treatment that has a chance of curing a person's cancer, the doctor may describe it as treatment with curative intent. But it can take many years to know whether a person's cancer is actually cured.

Many oncologists suggest that rather than "cure," it is better to think of cancer as a chronic condition which occasionally has acute phases. This kind of           thinking brings front and center the part you can play on an ongoing basis by eating right, exercising, doing what you can to reduce stress and getting               appropriate rest/sleep.

If cure is not possible, the goal may be to control the disease - to shrink any tumors and to stop the cancer from growing and spreading. This can help someone with cancer feel better and hopefully live longer. In many cases, the cancer does not completely go away, but is controlled and managed as a chronic disease, much like hypertension or diabetes. In other cases, the cancer may even seem to have gone away for a while, but it is expected to come back.

Palliation

When the cancer is at an advanced stage, chemotherapy drugs may be used to relieve symptoms caused by the cancer. When the only goal of treatment is to improve the quality of life, it is called palliation.