Chemotherapy is one of the main treatments for cancer and can be used in one of several ways. Chemotherapy has certain advantages over surgery and radiation therapy in that it travels to most locations in the body (the brain is an example of...

a possible exception). The other two treatments are usually focused on a discrete area of tumor growth. Given this wide distribution throughout the body, chemotherapy is used to kill cancer cells that may have migrated to locations distant from the primary tumor.

 

Sometimes chemotherapy is given before a cancer-removing surgery takes place. This is especially true when the tumor appears to have an irregular border making surgical removal of the tumor difficult. By administering chemotherapy in advance of surgery, the tumor can shrink in size making complete surgical removal more likely. Radiation therapy is also used for this “debulking” purpose. When chemotherapy is given prior to surgery it is often called neo-adjuvant therapy.

 

Many tumors can be removed surgically, especially tumors that are often encapsulated, like ovarian cancer. The extent of tumor spread can usually be determined by a pathologist upon examination of the tumor and surrounding lymph nodes in a laboratory. In some cancers, such as one in which spread to other organs and tissues is likely, chemotherapy is often given to provide a chemical cancer treatment the entire body. In this way any cancer cells that were not removed during surgery will hopefully be destroyed by the chemotherapy.

 

If the cancer cells have clearly extended beyond the main tumor, oncologists (cancer doctors) will often prescribe a course of chemotherapy to seek and destroy the wandering cancer cells. Also, even after apparent successful cancer treatment, cancer sometimes recurs. Often this recurrence is not amenable to surgery or even radiation therapy, so chemotherapy is given. Chemotherapy given after the primary treatment is called adjuvant therapy.

 

A newer approach to cancer treatment is the use of targeted cancer treatment or molecular targeted treatment. Targeted cancer treatment is the term given to drugs that selectively target certain types of cancer cells. Often targeted therapy must be given in conjunction with chemotherapy. While different treatment protocols exist, chemotherapy that is used in conjunction with targeted therapy is usually more effective overall.