How chemotherapy drugs work

Healthy cells can repair the damage caused by chemotherapy, but cancer cells can't and eventually die.

Different chemotherapy drugs damage cancer cells in different ways. If a combination of drugs| is used, each drug is chosen because of its different effects.

Unfortunately, chemotherapy drugs can cause unpleasant side effects, as they affect some of the healthy cells in your body. However, damage to the healthy cells is usually temporary and most side effects will disappear once the treatment is over.

Healthy cells in certain parts of the body are especially sensitive to chemotherapy drugs; these parts of the body include:

• the bone marrow (which makes blood cells)
• the hair follicles
• the lining of the mouth
• the digestive system.

Chemotherapy is usually given as a series of sessions of treatment. Each session is followed by a rest period. The session of chemotherapy and the rest period is known as a cycle of treatment. A series of cycles makes up a course of treatment.

Each session of chemotherapy destroys more of the cancer cells, and the rest period allows the normal cells and tissues to recover.