Types of Cancer Treatment
Traditional chemotherapy works by killing fast-growing cells throughout the body. In addition to rapidly dividing cancer cells, these toxic drugs also harm fast-growing healthy cells, such as those in the gut, hair follicles and bone marrow, leading to side effects like nausea, hair loss and low blood cell counts. Targeted therapies are medications that work against cancers with specific genetic characteristics. For example, they may turn off cancer cells by interfering with signaling pathways that regulate cell growth. These medications are generally less harmful to healthy cells, but cancer cells can become resistant to them.
