Explaining Cancer

Chemo is the anti-cancer drug that produces the most adverse side effects for patients -- including nausea, severe fatigue, neuropathy, and, of course, hair loss in some cases.

Adverse Side Effect
1) Nausea
2) Anemia
3) Pain
4) Neutropenia
5) Neuropathy
6) Mucositis
7) Hair Loss
8) "Chemo Brain"

Can Another Drug
Counteract It?
Yes. For example, Aloxi
and Anzemet.
Yes. For example,
Procrit.
Yes. For example,
several opiod-based
drugs like Roxanol.
Yes. For example,
Neupogen and Neulasta.
Yes. For example,
Neurontin.
Yes. For example,
Gelclair.
No.
No.

Comments
In recent years there has been great progress in developing
drugs to counteract nausea, a very common side effect from
chemo.
Occurs in a majority of cancer patients; results from low red
blood cell count with fatigue and shortness of breath as the
main symptoms.
About 90% of cancer patients receiving treatment experience
some form of pain and for most of us it can be chronic, and
sometimes quite severe.
Occurs from shortage of key type of white blood cells and
increases the patient’s risk of infection.
A painful injury to sensory nerves (such as those needed for
touch); may be gradually resolved as nerves heal.
This is a painful inflammation in the nose and throat, seen in
about 40% of patient’s taking standard dose chemo.
But there is no hair loss resulting from some cell-targeted
therapies (for example Gleevac) because they do not impact
hair follicles.
Cognitive abilities, which can decline immediately after Chemo
treatment, gradually improve (in most cases over a period of a
few months).