CHEMOTHERAPY AS A TREATMENT FOR MESOTHELIOMA

       Chemotherapy is a treatment which involves the use of anti-cancer drugs. Chemotherapy is given to a patient in two different ways, they are; the systemic therapy and the use of surgery. To explain much further, the systemic therapy is when the anti-cancer drugs is injected down the bloodstream and moves throughout the human body to destroy cancerous cells wherever they might be hiding.

        Chemo drugs can also be placed directly into the chest or abdomen depending on the affected parts. Whichever ways the chemo drugs is given it moves directly into the bloodstream looking for cancer cells to kill. For mesotheliomas that can be treated with surgery, the patient receives chemotherapy before surgery to risk the cancerous cells from spreading. This is also termed neoadjuvant therapy. Chemotherapy can also come after surgery to kill any cancer cells left behind during surgery. Some examples of chemo drugs includes; carboplatin, methotrexate, mitomycin, vinorelbine, ifosfamide the lists continues, to cut it short there are many of chemo drugs out there in pharmaceutical stores for purchase. They might be a dosage of 2drugs, depending on the conditions of the patient.

       Chemo drugs seen widely as a tool to tackle mesothelioma, but has its own side effects. Chemo drugs attacks cells in the body that are dividing quickly, but the bad part is that the bone marrows, the lining of the mouth and small intestine might or can also be affected. For me I think the side effects of chemotherapy depends on the dosage of drugs been given to a cancer patient and how long they are used for. Side effects may include; mouth sores, loss of appetite, vomiting, fatigue and even hair loss.