North Houston Cancer Clinics

Portal and Registration

Cancer Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is considered the most common and efficient method used for cancer treatment. It uses powerful drugs and chemicals to kill the cancer and tumor cells from your body.

Chemotherapy As the Best Option For Cancer Treatment

Chemotherapy is considered the most common and efficient method used for cancer treatment. It uses powerful drugs and chemicals to kill the cancer and tumor cells from your body. It works by shrinking the area of the tumor and reducing the prevalence of dividing cells. It is found to be effective but has some dangerous side effects that patients have to experience.

Chemotherapy At North Houston Cancer Clinics

At North Houston Cancer Clinics, we understand how important chemotherapy is when fighting this disease thus offering personalized treatment plans made according to each patient’s needs. Please contact North Houston Cancer Clinics to learn more about your options in Chemotherapy as you take a step closer to your journey of treating cancer.

Comprehensive Approach: Our clinic takes a comprehensive approach towards chemotherapy that considers factors like the type of cancer, stage of development, and patient health status when developing an optimal treatment plan.

Targeted Therapies: We use different drugs for chemotherapy including targeted therapies that specifically destroy cancerous cells without causing harm to healthy tissue.

Multimodal Treatment: Multimodal treatment means giving a combination of surgery radiation therapy or sometimes immunotherapy can bring about maximum therapeutic benefits.

Patient Satisfaction: Throughout the process of chemotherapy our team dedicatedly provides compassionate care while giving patients support and counseling on how to deal with side effects and maintain the health of patients.

genetic and genomic testing
Expert genetic and genomic testing

Working Principle of Chemotherapy:

To impair the growth and division rate of fast-dividing cancer cells thereby arresting tumor progression and enhancing tumor regression are ways by which this treatment modality works:
  • Cellular Interference
Essential cellular processes such as DNA replication as well as cell division get interfered with by chemo drugs hence preventing the spread through the multiplication of malignant cells
  • Systemic Delivery
Chemotherapy drugs are delivered throughout the whole body either taken as tablets, injected into the veins, or by any other means which then targets these drugs to cancer cells wherever they may be found.
  • Selective Toxicity
While chemotherapy drugs primarily target rapidly dividing cells, they tend to affect healthy cells with high growth rates leading to side effects such as hair loss and gastrointestinal disturbances.
  • Combination Therapy
Often chemotherapy is given together with other treatments so that their effectiveness can be increased while the chances of drug resistance decrease.
  • Individualized Approach
Every patient’s general health will determine what kind of treatment regimes should be developed for them and this ensures personalized care is provided resulting in optimized outcomes.

Types of Chemotherapy

Adjuvant Therapy: Adjuvant therapy means providing post-cancer treatments to settle down the after-effects of chemotherapy which will reduce the chance of reoccurrence of cancer.

Neoadjuvant Therapy: Administered before surgery most times to shrink the area of spread of tumors before surgery or radiotherapy.

Multiple Drug Therapy: This involves the simultaneous use of multiple drugs that act upon different mechanisms within the cells as opposed to one drug alone.

Targeted Therapy: This often involves using drugs that work only on specific types of cancer cells with minimal damage done to healthy ones mostly based on the genetic make-up of cancer cells themselves.

Immunotherapy: It calls for immune system activation as it makes it aware of the presence of tumor cells.

Chemotherapy Treatment Choices:

At North Houston Cancer Clinics, we offer comprehensive chemotherapy and cancer treatment options that are tailored specifically for you. Here is why we should be your number-one choice:

  • Experienced oncologists dedicated to personalized care
  • Facilities equipped for advanced treatments
  • Compassionate support from the beginning to the end of your journey. Contact North Houston Cancer Clinics today to begin your journey toward healing and hope. 
Genetic and genomic testing In Houston

Side Effects of Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is a very important tool for treating cancer but it also causes serious side effects. 

Nausea and Vomiting: Nausea and vomiting are the most common side effects that appear after chemotherapy or during the process and your healthcare provider may prescribe some antiemetic medicines for you.

Fatigue: Fatigue and tiredness are some of the results caused by chemotherapy making an individual feel extremely tired.

Hair Loss: Most of the cancer drugs cause hair loss. 

Appetite Changes: How your taste buds and hunger are impacted by chemotherapy. You may also try out various foods, and flavors to see what works for you.

Things to Stay Away From During Chemotherapy

Alcohol: Alcohol intake should be limited during chemotherapy as it may interfere with the working of chemotherapeutic drugs and it may enhance the side effects like nausea and dehydration.

Smoking: Smoking in addition reduces treatment efficacy by further weakening immunity. 

Unprotected Exposure From Sunlight: Additionally, patients undergoing chemotherapy have more light-sensitivity levels hence sunburns and skin damage might result from it. 

Strenuous Activities: tough exercises that may result in injury should be avoided although gentle workouts are beneficial. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Chemotherapy is the most common and advanced type of cancer treatment which kills and shrinks the cancer cells present in our body by using different chemicals and combinations of drugs.
The patient takes some oral pills while others go through intravenous injections (given directly into a vein) or are injected directly into body cavities such as the chest cavity especially if there’s fluid accumulation therein.
The most common side effects that patients experience include vomiting and disturbances in bowel movements. Major side effects include hair fall, not feeling hungry, and tiredness.
The period for administering chemotherapy may range from one person to another as it depends upon the general health of the patient as well as the prevalence of cancer.
This is the most common thing that happens to every patient and almost every patient reacts to the drugs by losing their hair. Normally it’s temporary and the hair starts coming back after the treatment ends.