Does chemotherapy for colorectal cancer have any side effects?

The reaction to chemotherapy varies from person to person, and some patients may have mild or severe reactions. Some patients may not have any reaction at all, and even their hair may not fall out. This is entirely due to individual differences and has nothing to do with the efficacy. Below we will introduce you to the knowledge about whether chemotherapy for colorectal cancer has side effects.

Chemotherapy is one of the most effective treatments to save and prolong the life of patients. Chemotherapy is the only systemic treatment. Generally, chemotherapy is used after surgery to remove the tumor. Because surgery may not completely remove the tumor, and some patients may look normal after surgery, and even various examinations may not find cancer cells, but in fact the cancer cells may have metastasized, but just not grown in other places. In this case, chemotherapy can only be used to prevent recurrence somewhere in the body. In addition, chemotherapy is the only effective treatment for patients with advanced cancer who cannot undergo surgery or radiotherapy.

The efficacy of chemotherapy is certain, but the drugs used in chemotherapy are cytotoxic drugs, which have certain toxicity. The side effects caused are mainly manifested in three aspects. The first is the side effects that most chemotherapy drugs may have, such as decreased white blood cells, vomiting and hair loss. These side effects mainly occur in bone marrow, gastrointestinal mucosa and hair, which are relatively fast-growing tissues. These side effects will appear quickly during chemotherapy and can be recovered quickly after stopping chemotherapy.

The second is the side effects of individual drugs on specific systems. For example, the commonly used chemotherapy drug vincristine can affect the nervous system, and borrelial-toxin can affect the respiratory system.

The third is the long-term side effects. Now that many cancer patients are able to survive for a long time, the long-term side effects of some chemotherapy drugs have also emerged, the most common of which are the impact on fertility and secondary cancer.

In addition, chemotherapy reactions vary from person to person, some are mild and some are severe, and there are also many patients who have no reaction at all, and even their hair does not fall out. This is entirely due to individual differences and has nothing to do with the efficacy.

On the one hand, chemotherapy is making progress; on the other hand, the active coordination of chemotherapy and other internal medicine treatments, as well as radiotherapy and surgery, will surely enable more patients to ultimately defeat the disease.

The above is some knowledge we have prepared for you today about the side effects of chemotherapy for colorectal cancer. We hope it will be helpful to you. If you have any other needs, you can also consult our online consulting experts. We are always here to answer your questions.

Colon cancer: http://www..com.cn/zhongliu/ca/