Long Term Effects of Chemotherapy

Cancer is a disease of the cells. Cells grow by division. Occasionally a cell will divide and one of the new cells will be incorrect -- a mutation. Mutations are usually caused by a damage to the DNA in that cell. Normally the body's immune system will attack and kill any abnormal or foreign substance or growth. If a cell divides incorrectly, the deformed cell will be killed and you'll never know the difference.

Sometimes, the body does not catch the mutation, the mutated cell divides and the corrupted DNA spreads as the cell replicates itself. If the immune system cannot stop the spread of multiplying mutating cells, eventually the cells can take over the body. The difference between cancer and normal body cells is that most normal cells do not divide very quickly. Cancer spreads quickly because the natural mechanism that inhibits growth is missing, so the cells reproduce out of control.

Chemotherapy is often used to stop the spread of cancer. A defining characteristic of cancer is its rapid growth, and most chemotherapy attacks cells when they divide, so chemotherapy is somewhat focused on cancer cells. However, chemotherapy is a toxin and is in contact, through the blood, with every cell in the body. Any cell that divides can be attacked. Healthy cells are able to repair the damage caused by the chemotherapy, but cancer is eventually killed.

Short term damaging side effects of chemotherapy involve cells that normally divide quickly. Although chemotherapy can focus largely on cancer because of the difference in growth rate between malignant and healthy tissue, cells such as the bone marrow, hair follicles and digestive system have a growth rate similar to cancer. Chemotherapy generally attacks these cells as well as the cancer and depending on the body's ability to withstand the attack, the patient can loose hair or have digestive issues.

Long term effects of chemotherapy include a general weakness of the body. Because chemotherapy is undeniably a poison, it is harmful to the body even in areas that it doesn't directly target. One of the long term effects of chemotherapy is a risk of infection. The immune system is taxed heavily during chemotherapy treatment as it tries to protect the healthy cells and can become fatigued. Some chemotherapy drugs can have a long term effect on the heart, lungs or other organs.