Managing Chemotherapy Side Effects

The effectiveness of chemotherapy comes from its ability to kill or eradicate the cancer in a patient’s body. But because most chemotherapy drugs cannot tell the difference between cancer cells and certain healthy cells, the treatment may affect healthy organs and tissue. These complications of treatment, or side effects, are inconvenient and uncomfortable—such as nausea, vomiting, or mouth sores. Side effects may be short term (acute), long term (chronic), or permanent.

Side effects also may prevent doctors from delivering the prescribed dose of therapy according to the schedule of the treatment plan. Because the expected outcome of therapy is based on delivering treatment in the prescribed amount and frequency, any change from the plan may reduce your chance of achieving the best outcome. So side effects not only cause discomfort and unpleasantness, but may also compromise your chance of a cure by preventing the delivery of therapy at its optimal dose and time.

What are the most common side effects?

All chemotherapy is associated with a wide variety of side effects. However, some side effects occur more frequently than others. Whether you will experience side effects, which ones, and their severity depend on a variety of factors, including your type of cancer, the type of chemotherapy drug or regimen you are taking, your physical condition, your age, and others. When cancer treatments are evaluated, side effects are measured and reported as part of the treatment evaluation.

The following side effects are typically associated with chemotherapy:

• Anemia 
• Depression 
• Extremed tiredness 
• Hair loss 
• Infection/fever 
• Low blood counts 
• Mouth sores 
• Nausea and vomiting 
• Neutropenia 
• Pain 
• Reproduction and sexuality
• Thrombocytopenia 

Can anything be done about side effects?

Fortunately, in the past 20 years, there has been a great deal of progress in the development of treatments to help prevent and control the side effects of cancer therapy. These developments have:

• Led to vast improvements in the management of symptoms associated with cancer treatment

• Allowed chemotherapy to be delivered with greater accuracy and consistency

• Made many cancer treatments more widely available 

For example, modern antivomiting drugs, called antiemetics, have reduced the severity of nausea and vomiting with chemotherapy. In addition, blood cell growth factors are now available to protect patients from infection, to reduce the fatigue associated with anemia, and to ensure that treatment can be delivered at the planned dose and schedule for optimal outcomes.