9 myths about chemotherapy explained

For the past half a century, chemotherapy has played a crucial role in the ongoing battle against cancer, providing doctors and oncologists with the means to fight cancer at the cellular level. But despite chemotherapy's importance as a vital medical advancement, myths and misunderstandings abound. Indeed, most of us have very little knowledge of how the process works. For some much needed clarity, we talked to Dr. Frances Shepard, a lung cancer specialist and clinical researcher, and Janice Stewart, manager of the chemo daycare transfusion unit, both of Toronto's Princess Margaret Hospital. Here they clear up the nine most prevalant chemo confusions.

1. Chemo kills cancer cells only
Chemotherapy medications are often defined as anti-cancer drugs or cancer killers, definitions that add to the confusion. The drugs that make up chemotherapy treatments are designed to inhibit rapid cellular growth by attacking cells at their core –- their DNA, or the enzymes that promote their growth. In fact, the medical community often refers to chemo as 'cytotoxic' (or cell killing) treatment. That's a far more accurate description.

The key difference between cancer cells and healthy cells is not the speed in which they regenerate, but the fact that cancer cells grow in an unregulated manner. The 'orders' from their 'headquarters' -– the DNA programmed with their job descriptions –- have become muddled. Chemotherapy drugs are designed to kill cells that grow in a specific manner, but they cannot always attack cancer cells exclusively. Hence, common side effects such as hair loss, which is an indication of the drugs harming the rapidly growing cells in our hair follicles. It is important to acknowledge that chemotherapy doesn't affect cancer cells alone and to understand how the treatments work. This way, the side effects seem less arbitrary.

2. There is only one type of chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is by no means a standardized treatment. There are a variety of drug therapies on the market, and they are used for different reasons, sometimes in tandem (called a doublet) or in combination with other drugs. "Treatments are becoming more customized," says Stewart. "It is now a different process for different individuals." Two women with breast cancer may not receive the same treatment cycle, and it should be noted that chemotherapy is not a one-size-fits all treatment. Furthermore, chemo is often used before surgery (neo-adjuvant) to reduce the size and spread of the tumour, after surgery (adjuvant), to contain the spread of any cancer cells that the procedure may have missed, or alongside radiation therapy. "There is no standard chemotherapy," notes Dr. Shepard. Each patient is treated as a separate case, and is administered the treatment option best suited for them.