Read article About chemotherapy for anal cancer
This page is about having chemotherapy for anal cancer.
About chemotherapy for anal cancer
Chemotherapy uses anti cancer (cytotoxic) drugs to destroy cancer cells. Cytotoxic means cell killing. These drugs work by disrupting the growth of cancer cells. You might have chemotherapy to try and cure anal cancer, or to help control symptoms of a more advanced cancer.
Chemotherapy with radiotherapy for anal cancer
The combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy is called chemoradiation. The chemotherapy makes cells more sensitive to radiotherapy, and so helps it to work better.
You can view and print the quick guides for all the pages in the treating anal cancer section.
Chemotherapy uses anti cancer (cytotoxic) drugs to destroy cancer cells. Cytotoxic means cell killing. These drugs work by disrupting the growth of cancer cells. The drugs circulate in the bloodstream around the body.
There are many different chemotherapy drugs. Doctors use different combinations to treat different types of cancer. On the next page in this section, there is information about the particular chemotherapy drugs used for anal cancer.
You may have chemotherapy to try to cure anal cancer or to help control symptoms of a more advanced cancer. To cure anal cancer, it is most common to have chemotherapy and radiotherapy together (known as chemoradiation). We know from research that chemoradiation works better than surgery for most stages of anal cancer.
Combination chemotherapy and radiotherapy is usually called chemoradiation. The chemotherapy makes the cancer cells more sensitive to radiotherapy, and helps it to work better. You can find out more about this on our page about chemoradiation for anal cancer.
If you have advanced anal cancer, your doctor may suggest chemotherapy to try to shrink or slow down the cancer, and to relieve your symptoms. The treatments you have will depend on which treatment you have already had. You might have chemotherapy with radiotherapy and surgery.
You can find general information about chemotherapy in our main chemotherapy section. It explains the treatment in more detail including
- What chemotherapy involves
- How chemotherapy is planned and given
- General side effects of chemotherapy
- Living with chemotherapy
If you would like more information about chemotherapy, contact our cancer information nurses. They would be happy to help.
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