www.cancer.gov 1 Questions and answers about chemotherapy What is chemotherapy? Chemotherapy (also called chemo) is a type of cancer treatment that uses drugs to destroy cancer cells. How does chemotherapy work? Chemotherapy works by stopping or slowing the growth of cancer cells, which grow and divide quickly. But it can also harm healthy cells that divide quickly, such as those that line your mouth and intestines or cause your hair to grow. Damage to healthy cells may cause side effects. Often, side effects get better or go away after chemotherapy is over. What does chemotherapy do? Depending on your type of cancer and how advanced it is, chemotherapy can cure or control cancer or ease symptoms caused by cancer. Chemotherapy cures cancer by destroying cancer cells to the point that your doctor can no longer detect them in your body and they will not grow back. Chemotherapy controls cancer by stopping it from spreading, slowing its growth, or destroying cancer cells that have spread to other parts of your body. Chemotherapy can ease symptoms caused by cancer (called palliative care) by shrinking tumors that are causing pain or pressure. Is chemotherapy used with other cancer treatments? Sometimes, chemotherapy is used as the only cancer treatment. But more often, you will get chemotherapy along with surgery, radiation therapy, targeted therapy, or immunotherapy. Î Chemotherapy may make a tumor smaller before surgery or radiation therapy. This is called neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Î Chemotherapy may destroy cancer cells that remain after surgery or radiation therapy. This is called adjuvant chemotherapy. Î Chemotherapy helps radiation therapy and immunotherapy work better. Î Chemotherapy can destroy cancer cells that have come back (recurrent cancer) or spread to other parts of your body (metastatic cancer).
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