Side effects of chemotherapy and their management

Abstract

Chemotherapy is the most common cancer treatment, often used in combination with other therapies, such as surgery, radiation, or hormone therapy. It relies on the use of drugs to destroy cancer cells and generally comes with a wide range of side effects such as anemia, neutropenia, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and mucositis. Chemotherapy induced side-effects occur in more than 50% of the patients. They are various and multifactorial, depending on the type of cancer, location, drugs, and dose. Acute and immediate side effects can be treated or managed and most will stop after the treatment ends. Antiemetic medicines and painkillers constitute a therapeutical solution. Nevertheless, some other side effects can persist due to permanent damages (on specific organs: heart, lungs, kidneys, etc). Furthermore, the extreme and sometimes long-lasting side effects of chemotherapeutic agents are cause for investigation into non-traditional therapies like integrative medicines.