Chemotherapy is the process of administering drugs in patients who are affected by cancer. A physician who studies the effect of these drugs on patients is called a medical oncologist. An oncologist explains the need for chemotherapy and the effects of taking them. Cancer is caused due to some changes in the DNA of the cells. The DNA of every cell gives information about how the cells function and activities. The DNA of the cancerous cells replicates very rapidly and forms a tumor. An oncologist diagnoses the cancerous cells and treats them through chemotherapy. Drugs are used in chemotherapy to destroy the cancerous cells.
Chemotherapy destroys the DNA of the cancerous cells thereby preventing further replication. The oncologist increases the dosage after analyzing the intensity of the cancerous cells. There are different phases of cell replication known as the cell cycle. The cell cycle are G0 where the cells have not started to replicate, G1 is the growth phase of the cells, S is the stage where synthesis where the replication of the cell just begins, G2 is the other growth phase, M is where the actual division starts from one cell to the other. Chemotherapy treatments are available to destroy the cells at any stage.
An oncologist analyses these stages of the cell and administers chemotherapy accordingly. Certain chemotherapy agents are capable to kill the cells at any phase of cell cycle. Cell specific agents can destroy maximum number of cells if taken for multiple numbers of times. A chemotherapy oncologist administers the drugs through injection, orally, intravenously, directly through a body cavity and intra arterially. There are many therapies a chemotherapy oncologist uses like the adjuvant therapy which is used after the surgery to reduce relapse, non adjuvant therapy is given before the surgery for shrinking the tumor and concurrent therapy is the combination of two or more therapies.
