How Does Chemotherapy Work?

Normal cells grow and die in a controlled way. Cancer occurs when cells become abnormal and keep dividing and forming more cells without control or order. Chemotherapy destroys cancer cells by stopping them from growing or multiplying. Some drugs work better together than alone, so chemotherapy often may consist of more than one drug.

In lung cancer, chemotherapy can be used:

• To keep cancer from spreading.
• To slow the cancer's growth.
• To kill cancer cells that may have spread to other parts of the body from the original tumor.
• To relieve symptoms that may be caused by the cancer.
• To cure the cancer, although this is a very small chance.

Chemotherapy consists of either “standard” medications or combinations of treatment, or “experimental” drugs or combinations. Many doctors believe that a promising new drug is the best choice when "standard" drugs don't offer high cure rates.  You should discuss these options with your doctor before your treatment is started.

“Standard” Chemotherapy Used In Lung Cancer

Chemotherapy drugs can be given alone or in combination. Your doctor will decide the best combination based on your "performance status" or overall health. These drugs can be given at different frequencies, either weekly or every three to four weeks. This is determined based on the patient’s circumstances and is explained before the treatment begins.

Here are the medications, which are widely used for the treatment of lung cancer:

• Taxol
• Taxotere
• Carboplatin
• Gemcitabine
• Navelbine
• Cisplatin
• Etoposide
• Topotecan
• Irinotecan
• Iressa
• Tarciva
• Alimpta