“Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powersyou cannot be successful or happy.”
– Norman Vincent Peale
Cancer Treatment: Chemotherapy
This 3D medical animation about chemotherapy depicts normal cell division, apoptosis, tumor cell formation,tumor development, and angiogenesis of a tumor. It describes the cause of tumor cell formation at the genetic level with DNA, and metastasis through blood and lymph vessels. This animation covers the various effects of chemotherapy: cancer cell death, tumor death, destruction of normal cells and tissue. It also covers the side effects associated with chemotherapy treatments. Also described are related treatments, such as, radiation, pills, capsules, liquids, intravenous injections, surgical procedures, catheterization, CSF injection, wafter placement, and schedule of treatments.
Oncologists give chemotherapy in different ways, depending on the location of your metastases and the drugs that your oncologist gives you. The four most common methods are: intravenous, oral, intramuscular, and intrathecal.
The intravenous (IV) route is the most common way of giving chemotherapy. An oncology nurse inserts a small plastic needle into one of the veins in your lower arm so that the chemotherapy can flow through it. Since a needle stick is required to get into the vein, you may have some temporary, minor discomfort. After that, infusion of the chemotherapy is usually painless. Chemotherapy flows from a plastic bag, through the needle and catheter, into the bloodstream. Sometimes the oncology nurse uses a syringe to push the chemotherapy through the tubing.
Chemotherapy can also be infused into your veins through a vascular access device (VAD).
The oral (po) route takes the form of a pill, capsule, or liquid taken by mouth. This is the easiest and most convenient method since it can be done at home. The intramuscular (im) method involves getting an injection directly into the muscle. There is a slight pinch as the nurse places the needle into the muscle of the arm, thigh, or buttocks; however, the procedure lasts only a few seconds. This route is usually not used to give breast cancer chemotherapy, but it is used occasionally to give hormonal therapy.
Intrathecal chemotherapy may be necessary when breast cancer spreads to the nervous system. This usually involves injecting chemotherapy directly into the spinal fluid after your doctor does a spinal tap.
