How to Manage Digestive Issues During and After Chemotherapy

It’s quite common to experience digestive troubles while undergoing chemotherapy and even for some time after treatment. Since many chemotherapies target fast-growing cells, like cancer cells, they can disrupt the growth of some cells involved in digestion. In some cases, vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, and constipation can be the result, all of which can be uncomfortable … Read more

How Does Chemotherapy Affect Cancer Cells?

Chemotherapy agents can be divided into three major classes, based on the manner in which they act on cancer cells: Drugs that are active against dividing cells by targeting a specific phase of the cell cycle—the process by which cells duplicate their DNA and separate into two daughter cells. Drugs that are active against dividing … Read more

Chemotherapy Myths and Misconceptions [Podcast]

Chemotherapy has long been a mainstay of cancer treatment. But a lot has changed since Sidney Farber, MD, the founder of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, achieved the first remissions for pediatric leukemia using chemotherapy in the 1940s. Today, in the era of precision cancer medicine, there are newer treatments and chemotherapy that can more specifically target … Read more

What is Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy?

Chemotherapy has been traditionally used as an “adjuvant” treatment in many patients with cancer — administered after surgery to kill microscopic tumor cells that remain in the body after surgical removal of the tumor. More recently, it has also come to be used in a “neoadjuvant” setting — to shrink tumors before they are surgically … Read more

How Is Chemotherapy Prepared?

Chemotherapy infusion is one of the most common and effective cancer treatments. It has been in use as a cancer treatment since the 1940s, when Dana-Farber founder Sidney Farber, MD, used it to achieve the first clinical remission ever reported for childhood leukemia. For a treatment that has been around such a long time, you … Read more

Can Cooling Caps Prevent Chemotherapy Hair Loss?

Scalp hypothermia, more commonly known as scalp cooling, is a relatively new treatment to try to prevent or reduce hair loss during chemotherapy. It involves placing a tight, cooled cap on the head before, during, and after each chemo session. The cooling cap is attached to a machine that circulates a liquid coolant through the … Read more

Biological Therapy and Chemotherapy: What Are the Differences?

Chemotherapy and biotherapy are both used to destroy cancer cells. So how are they different, and how are they similar? Traditional chemotherapy uses chemical substances to treat cancer. Biological therapy, by contrast, uses living organisms, substances derived from organisms, or laboratory-made versions of those substances to act against cancer cells. How does chemotherapy work? Most … Read more

How Is Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting Treated?

Along with hair loss, nausea and vomiting from chemotherapy are among patients’ greatest concerns during cancer treatment. Fortunately, great strides have been made in the past decade or two, thanks to new generations of anti-nausea medications and better understanding of how to use them. Many patients won’t experience these distressing symptoms, or will have only … Read more

Can Marijuana Benefit Cancer Patients?

Marijuana occupies a complicated position among the substances used to alleviate symptoms associated with cancer and cancer treatment. On the one hand, most U.S. states have legalized cannabis (the plant from which marijuana is derived) for medical purposes. On the other hand, federal law prohibits the prescription or possession of marijuana.   Although cannabis has been … Read more

How to Reduce Metallic Tastes During Cancer Treatment

Medically reviewed by Stacy Kennedy, MPH, RD Cancer treatments like chemotherapy can affect how your taste buds interact with different flavors, changing the way you experience certain food. A recurring metallic taste while eating or drinking water is one of the most common taste changes reported by patients. Although this symptom typically subsides after treatment … Read more