Chemotherapy utilizes anti-cancer medications. This treatment option is useful for cancers that have spread beyond the origin of the disease. Drugs may be given orally or intravenously. A patient’s general health status should be considered before giving chemotherapy.
Anti-cancer drugs may be injected directly into the abdomen. Much of the dose may reach the abdominal lining, but may also get into the bloodstream through the abdomen. This allows the drug to reach cancer cells beyond the abdomen. At the same time, however, it will damage normal cells, thus causing side effects such as hair loss, rashes, mouth sores, nausea, vomiting, and appetite loss. Most of these side effects caused by chemotherapy, disappear once chemotherapy is stopped.
The ovaries may be damaged temporarily or permanently by many chemotherapy drugs. If the patient is not menopausal, these drugs may decrease the body’s production of hormones, which in turn may affect fertility. Chemotherapy can also produce symptoms of early menopause. A loss of desire for sex or relationships may be experienced.
Chemotherapy for patients with epithelial ovarian carcinoma usually involves six cycles. The cycle, which is a schedule of regular doses of a chemotherapy drug followed by a period of rest, is prescribed by an oncologist.
Chemotherapy drugs are usually administered intravenously in a cycle lasting from three to four weeks. It often involves a combination of drugs, since these are considered more effective than using a single drug by itself. This is due to the fact that combination chemotherapy allows the use of higher doses without risking the extreme side effects that may be expected when only one drug is used. Cancer cells may also develop resistance to the drugs, the likelihood of this occurring is reduced by using a combination of drugs.
The standard approach in combination chemotherapy entails the use of a platinum compound such as carboplatin with a taxane such as paclitaxel. While epithelial ovarian carcinoma responds to chemotherapy, the cancer may relapse. Cancer recurrence can be treated with additional cycles of taxane and a platinum compound, or with second line agents such as topotecan and anthracyclines.
Because it can damage the bone marrow cells that produce blood, chemotherapy can lead to low blood cell counts. This in turn can cause fatigue, increased chances of infection, bruising or bleeding following even minor cuts.
These side effects may be felt more severely by patients who are in “poor health”, as defined by a measurement tool known as the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) Performance Scale, where a rank of 3 or 4 puts a cancer patient in a state of “poor health”. These rankings mean that the patient’s state of health may range from being able to do some self-care activities but with more than half of her waking hours spent seated or in bed, to being unable to get out of a bed or a chair at all.
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Reviewed by:
Jiade J. Lu, M.D.
Diplomate, American Board of Radiology (Radiation Oncology)
Medical Director
The Cancer Information Network
Date Modified: 06/14/04
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