What Is Chemotherapy?

Chemotherapy is the use of medications to treat cancer. These medications may also be called anticancer medications.

Our bodies are made up of millions of normal, healthy cells. Genes tell our cells when to divide, how to grow and work, and when to die. When mistakes occur to the genetic material of a cell, they may become cancer cells. Cancer cells keep dividing and growing without control.

Chemotherapy kills cancer cells by stopping them from growing, multiplying or spreading to other parts of the body. Different types of chemotherapy medications damage cancer cells at a different point of a cell's life cycle. Also, each type of medication does its job in a different way. One medication may attack the cell's genetic material (DNA or RNA) to stop growth, while another may cause the cells to die by preventing proteins inside the cell from working properly.

Chemotherapy affects the whole body, so normal, healthy cells can also be damaged. Damage to healthy cells causes side effects. Usually the damage is temporary and the healthy cells will repair themselves or regenerate.

Some anticancer medications can be used alone or in combination. The chemotherapy formula you receive is called your chemotherapy protocol or regimen.

You and your doctor will choose the best chemotherapy for you based on:

• what kind of cancer you have
• where the cancer is found in your body (stage of the cancer)
• your overall health

Find out more about the goal of chemotherapy.