Oral Chemotherapy

What is oral chemotherapy? The term refers to the way of administering chemotherapy, namely taking chemo drugs by mouth. There are multiple ways of applying the principles of chemotherapy for the treatment of various health conditions. Nowadays, due to progress in cancer treatments and research, patients benefit from many different types of chemotherapy that can be taken in as tablet, liquid or capsule. Nevertheless any drug that can be taken by mouth to treat cancer belongs to oral chemotherapy. The health impact of pills will be the same, with the mention that they are more likely to trigger adverse reactions because of the impact on the digestive tract.

The structure of certain medications makes them incompatible with oral chemotherapy, as they cannot be absorbed at the level of the stomach. So as to avoid side effects, many anti-cancer drugs are administered intravenously through a line. In the case of oral chemotherapy, the treatment has the advantage that the patient can follow it at home.

A good way to organize oral chemotherapy is in cycles of administration. Thus, the possibility to damage healthy cells is reduced and drugs are allowed to destroy more cancerous cells. Obviously, the doctor is the one who will decide how frequently (daily, weekly, monthly, etc) medication will be taken. Anyway, the anti-cancer treatment scheme proposed by the specialist ought to be discussed with the patient so that she/he may know what lies ahead in terms of challenges, difficulties and success rate. Only when one informed and convinced of the efficiency of the treatment, can one decide to begin it.

Even if oral chemotherapy drugs are not as strong as the others and although they do not affect the patients stomach, there are side effects of the treatment here too. The list of oral chemotherapy adverse reactions is very long and it generally includes fatigue, nausea, vomiting, anemia, flu-like symptoms, diarrhea and constipation, increased susceptibility to infections, kidney malfunctions, hair loss and various other sores and pains. For any of these side effects it is advisable that patients address their doctors for advice and help.

Filed Under: Chemotherapy