The Goals and Objectives of Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is a drug treatment designed to kill harmful cells in the body. Doctors sometimes use chemotherapy drugs to combat immune-system disorders and bone marrow disease. Usually, though, they use chemotherapy to fight cancer. Just as cancer takes many forms, there are many kinds of chemotherapy drugs. Depending on the type of cancer and the degree to which the disease has spread through the body, doctors use these drugs with different goals and objectives.

Cure

• When doctors use chemotherapy as their primary treatment for cancer patients, the goal is often to cure the cancer. Some types of Hodgkin's disease, small-cell lung cancer, embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma and Wilms' tumor are candidates for chemotherapy as a primary treatment, according to the AARP Health Encyclopedia.

Pre-Surgery and Post-Surgery Care

• Another goal of primary treatment chemotherapy is to shrink the size of the tumor before radiation or surgery. If the tumor is too large, surgical removal could cause organ damage or permanent disfigurement. Chemotherapy treatment may also help kill any remaining cancer cells after surgery or radiation treatments are completed.

Pain Management

• If doctors don't cure the cancer and it spreads throughout the body, the patient will likely experience tremendous pain. According to the Mayo Clinic, the goal of palliative chemotherapy is to ease this pain and other symptoms of advanced cancer.