Page 108 - South Mississippi Living - June, 2024

HOW DOES IT WORK? story by Lynn Lofton
Memorial Health System Oncologist Dr. Pamela Tuli explains what this therapy, that’s most often used to treat cancer, is. “Chemotherapy refers to drugs used for cancer treatment. Today, we have many different types of drugs to treat cancer and they work in different ways,” she says. “In addition to traditional chemotherapy, we have immunotherapy, hormonal therapy and targeted therapies. Immunotherapy helps a patient’s own immune system attack their cancer. Targeted therapies target proteins specific to a cancer cell, proteins that help the cancer cell to grow, divide, and survive.”
Traditional chemotherapy works by targeting cells that divide rapidly, thus stopping cancer growth and causing cancer cells to die. “Chemotherapy is considered a systemic therapy, meaning it can reach cancer cells throughout the body and treat cancer cells that have metastasized or spread to sites
in the body distant from where it started. This is different from surgery or radiation that address cancer in a local area only,” Tuli said.
The number of drugs to be used and the specific combination of drugs will vary based on many factors. The doctor says the factors considered include tumor type, stage of cancer, goals of therapy and if it’s for cure or palliation. “Age and health of the patient, and things such as biomarkers specific to the tumor are also considered.”
There are many different types of chemotherapy drugs and routes of administration. Some can be taken by mouth; some are administered through an IV and others by subcutaneous injections. “The schedule of administration, length of infusion, etc. is unique to each drug and regimen, but are designed to get the maximum anti tumor effect while minimizing side effects,” Tuli said.
108 | June 2024
www.smliving.net | SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living