Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is the use of potent drugs or chemicals, often in combinations or intervals, to kill or damage cancer cells in the body. Chemotherapy drugs are often called anticancer agents. The drugs must be toxic enough to kill leukemic cells, which is why chemotherapy can be hard on your body—the drugs' toxicity can harm your healthy cells as well. However, successful chemotherapy depends on the fact that cancerous cells are more sensitive to the chemicals in the drug than normal cells are.

For information about the drugs listed on this page, visit our cancer drug listing.

The progress in treatment and survival for patients with blood cancers is largely due to the development of chemotherapy drugs over the past 40 years. Today's treatments for leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, and other types of blood cancers sometimes combine chemotherapy with radiation therapy. Very high dose chemotherapy followed by stem cell transplantation can also be used.

The goal of chemotherapy is to damage or kill cancer cells so there's either no sign of illness (remission) or the disease's progress is slowed. Chemotherapy can produce long-term remission or outright cure for many people, depending on the cancer type and its extent.

How does chemotherapy work?

Normal, healthy cells divide and grow in a controlled pattern. When a healthy cell divides, it replicates itself and produces two cells that are identical. Cancer cells, on the other hand, grow uncontrollably and rapidly with no pattern. When a cancer cell comes into contact with a normal cell, the cancer cell takes over and copies itself many times, overburdening the body with cancer cells.

All chemotherapy drugs interfere with cancer cells' ability to grow or multiply. Different groups of drugs harm cancer cells in different ways. Certain chemotherapy drugs are used only for certain disease cell types—that's why it's essential that the disease be accurately diagnosed.

How are chemotherapy drugs given?

Chemotherapy drugs can sometimes be swallowed in pill, capsule, or liquid form. But in most cases, you'll receive the drugs through a catheter, or central line—a small device that's placed in one of your veins, usually in your upper chest, through a small surgical incision. The catheter can stay in place for weeks or months.

Your doctor or nurse uses the catheter—a thin, flexible tube or intravenous (IV) line—to deliver the drugs directly into your bloodstream. Using a catheter instead of repeatedly inserting an IV needle can help ward off infection and irritation and may be more comfortable.