Chemotherapy, one of the most widely known cancer treatments in the world, is usually the only one considered despite it's harmful effects. As medicine and new treatments evolved, so did the cancer epidemic. Chemotherapy became the patient's quick and easy "saving grace". But what exactly is chemotherapy? According to Harold Varmus, the director of the National Cancer Institute, "Chemotherapy is a cancer treatment that uses drugs to destroy cancer cells. It's called chemo" (1). Chemotherapy, or "chemo" is normally assigned to a patient according to their stage and their condition. Usually, " [it] can be given in these forms: An IV (intravenously), a shot (injection) into a muscle or other part of your body, a pill or liquid you swallow, or a cream that is rubbed on your skin" (1). But how exactly does chemotherapy work? Gordon S. James, an oncologist and the author of "Comprehensive Cancer Care", answers "Radiation and chemotherapy work by actively dividing cells. In the process, they also destroy normal cells, causing damage to the immune system and side effects, including nausea, vomiting, and hair loss" (xvii). While chemotherapy is effective in removing malignant cancer cells, it also removes you bodies defenses.
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| Figure 1: "Loss of Normal Growth Control" |
To better understand the harmful effects of chemo, it is important to understand the illness itself: cancer. "Cancer is a term used for diseases in which abnormal cells divide without control and are able to invade other tissues" (Varmus, 1). Now, this isn't just a random happening of events. The body at this point cascades into chaos, however this chaos is controlled. The oncologist Gordon S. James from above informs us "Cancer is characterized by a process of uncontrollable growth. One cell receives a molecular message that begins a perversion of the most basic functions of life, cell growth and division. If this "renegade cell" evades the body's normal surveillance and control mechanisms it begins a process of malignant transformation" (xiii). According to the Figure 1, the "renegade cell" above is the corrupted cancer cell, which looks less healthier than the normal cell but is quite capable in numbers. In the other figure, Figure 2, the renegade cell mutates from the leftover "corpse" of the disfunctional cell. Afterwards this cell multiplies and eradicates any normal cells in it's path. And so the chaos grows and then forms a centralized benign tumor, or it spreads malignantly throughout the body and replaces as many cells as possible. In theory, the chemo is almost like a double-edged sword: it wipes out the corrupted cells, but it leaves a trail of dead normal cells behind as well.
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| Figure 2: "Normal and Cancer Cells Structure" |
