Commonly Used Chemo Agents | Resources & Research News

Chemotherapy is a broad term for a wide range of agents that are given systemically (by infusion or pill)  to treat cancer.  Many side effects listed in this section are associated with various chemotherapy agents including but not limited to: 

Anemia | Fatigue | Hair Loss | Low blood counts | Nausea | Neuropathy | Oral problems

Chemotherapy treatment support page

Avoiding Trouble - general | Avoiding Infections Page | Diet for Immune suppressed Page | Fight nausea |  Fight Constipation | Oral Health | When to call your doctor |

Many chemotherapy agents damage or kill rapidly growing cells, which includes normal cells: hair, and blood cells that form in the marrow. 

Will I recover?  Your normal cells will usually recover when chemotherapy is over, and with this recovery the side effects will gradually subside. 

How long will it take?  This depends on many things, including your age, health status, and the kind of chemotherapy you have received.  Some side effects will persist for days; other effects can last for years.

Related Topics: 

	Biologics that can prevent or treat myelosuppression.
	Brain function and chemotherapy - see "Chemo Brain."
	Chemo-protection - CAM section of PAL Chemotherapy - treatment with a variety of chemical agents is commonly used to effectively  treat patients with lymphomas and other cancers.  However, information about how patients  might protect themselves from the side effects associated with these agents is not readily available.   The goal of this page is to provide links to reliable sources of information on this topic so that patients  and their doctors can make better-informed decisions, and so patients can avoid practices that  might potentially interfere with treatments.
	CBC - blood test is often used to monitor the effect of therapy on blood counts.
	The Chemotherapy section for a list of agents and mechanism - PAL