How effective is the chemotherapy of cancer?

The effectiveness of cancer chemotherapy has been a problem that has long been discussed in the medical community. Some give efficiency using chemotherapy to only 2 percent to 4 percent. Others argue that the results of the use of chemotherapy for cancer are much higher. In most cases, the only thing that both parties agree that chemotherapy efficacy is largely dependent on the phase and type of cancer that the patient has.

To understand how effective can be chemotherapy for cancer, the medical community can use a number of different measurements. One of the most common is the five -year survival rate after diagnosis. In a study published in a magazine known as clinical oncology, almost 38 percent of people with testicular cancer and more than 40 percent of people with Hodgkin's disease survived for five years due to chemotherapy.

Further results in the survey were not nearly as promising. For example, only 2 percent of people with Plick cancer survived a five -year brand due to chemotherapy. This does not mean that chemotherapyIt cannot prolong lives for cancer. Even in lung cancer at a late stage, those who did not use drugs had a rate of survival for four months, compared to 16 to 20 months for those who took chemotherapy. After some time, however, those who use chemotherapy for cancer often develop resistance to drugs.

In some cases, it may be the only option despite lack of efficiency with some types of conditions. Many other treatment options, such as radiation, treat cells only in a specific part of the body. If cancer spreads, then chemotherapy that can achieve cells in all parts of the body will become a more likely course of treatment. Some chemotherapeutic drugs may be more effective in the treatment of cancer in some parts of the body, but usually a more general type of drug is prescribed.

One thing that opponents of using chemotherapy for cancer often point out that chemotherapy may beT credited for the treatment of things like Hodgkin's disease, but it can lead to other types of cancer. Some studies have found that the incidents of other types of cancer have increased significantly in patients who had Hodgkin's disease, and underwent chemotherapy compared to those who have selected other treatment options. In fact, chemotherapy can in fact play a role in cancering in some patients.

One of the main factors that can reduce the efficacy of chemotherapy for cancer is that doctors are trying to prescribe a dosage that allows at least some increased quality of life. Chemotherapy is a drug that kills cells indiscriminately, which can lead to countless side effects, including nausea, fatigue and hair loss. If it is given in sufficiently significant doses, the drug may be fatal. Doctors are therefore limited to doses that may prescribe.