COMPLETE Guide For Chemotherapy Effects and It's Treatment

Gastric Cancer Chemotherapy

The second most common types of cancer today are the gastric cancer. Chemotherapy is the most recommended mode of treatment for this type of cancer which is combined with surgery and sometimes radiation too. Here the drug administered is anti-cancer drug to destroy the cancerous cell. In this mode of treatment the anti-cancer drugs are known to enter the body through the blood stream and destroy the affected cells that are present in the entire body. This mode of treatment is referred to as systematic chemotherapy.

There has been a decline in the number of gastric cancer cases as people have become more conscious of preserving food in the refrigerator, decrease the salt intake, eat fresh fruits and vegetables more etc. Research has proved that salt when used to preserve food-stuffs for a longer time period has known to destroy or rather damage the mucous lining of the gastric glands thus leading to the inflammation and cell proliferation along with DNA synthesis. A healthy and nutritional diet has also lead in the decline in the number of gastric cancer cases.

Though there has been a decline in type of cancer the death rates are higher as this cancer is detected only in the full blown case or advanced case thus treatment and survival rates being quite low. In this type of cancer surgery is the best option as there is a possibility of reoccurrence or relapse of this cancer.

Drugs are infused into the blood via intravenously or sometimes even orally. If detected at a later stage the patients are kept under observation while the treatment cycle is on. In this mode of treatment there are more than one drug used as it has been proved that combination drug therapy is more instant and effective though this all depends upon the stage of detection.

Drugs that are administered before surgery are ECF and ECX while drugs like cisplatin, fluorouracil and epirubicin all come under the ECF category. In this mode of treatment the chemotherapy drugs are pumped into the blood directly through the main blood vessel which is located in the neck and this mode of treatment is prolonged to almost six months depending upon the body’s response to the treatment. The drugs that come under the ECX category are cisplatin, capecitabine, epirubicin. Both cisplatin and epirubicin are injected into the veins while capecitabine comes in tablet form.

What are the side effects related to this mode of treatment?

Like all cancer treatments there are certain common side effects in this mode of treatment like nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, anemia, fatigue, loss of memory, mouth sores etc. and the severity of these side effects depends upon the dosage of the chemotherapy drugs. Apart from this these drugs are also known to destroy the healthy cells that surround these cancerous cells.

Certain side effects that are common only to this mode of treatment are skin rashes, loss of balance, loss of hearing, joint pain, swelling in the facial muscles, hands and feet’s. In some cases the side effects are severe and if not taken proper care it can lead to death.