Skin cancer can be a serious problem. This disease can affect your life and, by extension, those of your family, friends and co-workers. You and they need to understand that it is preventable. There is no need for non-melanoma and melanoma types of skin cancer to become so serious. If this does develop there are options. These range from minor to more severe forms of as well as a well-known and recognized treatment called chemotherapy.
Skin Cancer and Chemotherapy
The word “chemotherapy” refers to the use of chemicals as a form of medical therapy. This approach to treating skin cancer requires the use of specific powerful drugs to control and prevent the growth of cancer cells. It may also be administered to help ease the pain of any cancer symptoms. Used effectively since the 1970s, chemotherapy relies on powerful, highly toxic and cancer-destroying medications to help eliminate the cancer from your body.1
There are different types of chemotherapy drugs. Some are specifically designed to address skin cancer. The drugs may be used alone. The medical specialist may also decide to combine them together. This is referred to as combination chemotherapy. Yet, no matter what the doctor decides upon, any form of treatment involving chemotherapy must take into consideration several different but related factors. These are:
- The type of skin cancer present
- In what part of the body the cancer is present
- The medical condition of the patient2
In some instances, the doctor may decide upon chemotherapy only as a part of an integrated treatment plan. As a result, it may be used in combination with radiation or surgery. The intent in such cases is to ensure all cancer cells are eliminated.
How it is Applied
There are four possible ways for you to receive chemotherapy treatment for skin cancer. Some are more common than others are. Your doctor may decide the best way is to introduce the drugs intravenously. The use of an Intravenous tube or IV is undoubtedly the most widespread means to deliver the necessary medication.
The process involved using the IV is relatively simple. The physician inserts a needle directly into a vein. The attached tubing feeds the specific chemotherapy drugs into your system from an intravenous bag. After the treatment the needle is removed. If, however, you are going to undergo more than one session, a piece of plastic tubing called a catheter is placed into your veins. It is allowed to remain until the need for chemotherapy is over. Alternatively, a plastic or metal disc referred to as a “port” will be placed beneath the skin. This implant will act as the connecting device for the IV.
Because the process of an IV chemotherapy drip takes some time, you may be allowed to have your IV attached to a mobile stand. Another possibility is your doctor will put into place a small pump. It will remain either outside your body or be surgically inserted inside it. Either arrangement will allow you to function with greater normality.
The other ways to receive chemotherapy are oral, injections and topical. Oral therapy is exactly as the name describes. You take the prescribed medication in liquid or pill form. You can simply pop it into your mouth and you are done. With injections, you need to visit a doctor. He or she will give the needle to you in one of several fashions: directly into the cancer growth, beneath the skin or into the closest muscle.3
One of the simplest forms of chemotherapy of all, perhaps after swallowing a pill or capsule, is topical chemotherapy. This is the application of the appropriate drug in cream or lotion form. The medication is applied directly on the affected skin. Like other forms of chemotherapy, the intent is to kill off cancerous cells while damaging or destroying very few good cells.
Another newer method of restricted application has recently found its way into the treatment of recurrent melanoma. If the cancer affects only one limb, the physician will apply a tourniquet to the leg or arm. This prevents the flow of blood to other parts of the body. The method of chemotherapy is then used in greater than normal amounts. The purpose is to limit the specific side effects to only the leg or arm while increasing the potential affect of the medication on the melanoma. The procedure is called regional chemotherapy.4
Possible Side Effects
Chemotherapy treatment for skin cancer does not come without certain side effects. This can range from the mild skin rash that may develop from the use of topical chemotherapy to more painful aches, pains and physical problems. Among the more common side effects associated with chemotherapy are:
- Hair loss
- Tiredness
- Sickness (nausea)
- Lack of appetite
- Pain
- Greater risk of various infections
- Depression
- Your skin will become more sensitive to the sun
- Hands and feet may experience some weakness or numbness making certain tasks difficult to perform
- Low blood count5
Many of these side effects are not permanent. In fact, depending upon the type of drug used and the form of skin cancer you have, the side effects will be only mild and passing. Your hair will grow back eventually.
References
1 Sarg, M. S. and Gross, A. D. (2007). The Cancer Dictionary Third Edition. New York: Checkmark Books.
2 University Health Network (2011). “What is Chemotherapy.” Retrieved from www.uhn.ca/Patients_&_Visitors/health_info/topics/c/chemotherapy.asp
3 Cancer Treatments – chemotherapy (2011). Victoria Government Department of Health. Retrieved from: www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/
4 Chemotherapy Side Effects Fact Sheets (2011). National Cancer Institute. Retrieved from: www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/coping/chemo-side-effects
5 Ibid.
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