Originally published in October 2003 icon
Chemotherapy is the use of chemicals to kill rogue cells.
It works on rapidly dividing cells, usually poisoning them through free radical toxic action.
The drugs used will vary according to the type of tumour and its state of advancement.
Some chemicals work directly on the rogue cell's DNA; others on the receptors at the cell surface, trying to stop the rogue secondary messages getting through.
The risks are largely in the side effects. Pills taken orally, or drugs administered into veins, poison the whole body. Indeed, some drugs are themselves carcinogens. The liver and immune system do their best to remove the poisons, but both are weakened in the process.
Other rapidly dividing cells, such as those in the nails, blood, stomach lining and hair, also suffer Nausea can be a real problem, as it debilitates the patient. Also the blood count declines during treatment and less oxygen is carried round the body. Often after a couple of weeks, and again around week six, the patient gets depressed. One reason is that blood oxygen level and depression are directly linked. Although chemotherapy can be very effective, the success rate varies and in certain cancers can be as low as one per cent! Chemotherapy is the use of chemicals to kill rogue cells 
A survey of 128 US cancer doctors found that if they contracted cancer, more than 80 per cent would not have chemotherapy as the "risks and side effects far outweighed the likely benefits". You have to work out what's best for you and your type and grade of cancer. So read on, talk to your consultant and then decide.
1:
Make sure you know everything about the chemotherapy drug your doctor is recommending. You will find new drugs covered on the internet complete with results of their trials or you can ask your specilic cancer charity helpline. The very latest cancer treatments can be obtained on the Medcast website: http://www.medcast.com.
2:
Ask your doctor why he/she is recommending chemotherapy. If he had cancer, would he treat himself with this drug? How long has he been prescribing this treatment and to how many people? What are his expectations of this treatment for you? Are there other options, which could produce the same results?
Ask your doctor why they are recommending chemotherapy 3:
What has the success rate been? Does he expect the tumour to go, or just reduce in size. Does he think your Cancer might become active again after treatment? If so, after what gap? What else can be tried if the chemo doesn't work? Are there any clinical trials open, which may be suitable for you?
4
What are the risks in having the treatment? How will your doctor assess its effectiveness? What are the worst reported, and also the least reported, side effects during and after this treatment?
5:
Ask your doctor what action he will take if you are losing a lot of weight and obviously not getting sufficient nutrition. Also, if you want to use herbal and natural remedies to help with the side effects, would he be prepared to work with you and discuss suitable treatments? Does he take any measures to support the immune system during treatment? If fatigue becomes a major problem, does he have methods for tackling it?
6:
Check whether the treatment will affect fertility. If so, will you be offered opportunities for harvesting eggs/freezing sperm?
7:
Prepare your body for the chemical onslaught by taking a good quality colloidal vitamin and mineral supplement at least a month before, during and after, chemotherapy. It may be a benefit if it contains iron, as that seems to enhance the activity of the free radicals and so might help the chemotherapy. It will also boost the blood count, which will take a hammering. And take the anti-oxidant barrage (Vit C, E, beta-carotene, zinc, selenium, lycopene and coQlO). Be well and prepared. Go on a healthy diet, cuffing sodium and animal fats including dairy, increasing potassium and magnesium foods.
8:
icon's nurse Patricia Peat suggests consulting a holistic practitioner/ medical herbalist as soon as possible to have a settled regime before commencing chemotherapy. But remember to tell your specialist what complementary treatments you are taking/having in case of possible reactions between the treatments.
Consult a holistic practitioner / medical herbalist as soon as possible 9:
Whilst the chemotherapy is going on, drink up to three litres of glass bottled or reverse osmosis filtered water a day, and take your anti-sickness medication regularly to prevent nausea building ,up. (Peppermint tea can help here).
10:
Eat small amounts of nourishing food regularly, rather than one or two large meals a day. See Icon March 2003 for detailed dietary recommendations.
11:
Try to avoid saturated and polyunsaturated fats and spicy foods.
12:
Supplement your diet with 300mgs of astragalus, a good B vitamin containing folic acid and 1,000mg of pure cod liver oil. Antioxidant supplementation produces huge controversy. You are encouraged to eat lots of fruit and vegetables but then, at the same time, the oncologist says that antioxidant supplements will protect the cancer cells during chemo. You must try to protect your white immune cells. A good multivitamin and mineral supplement is advisable and should be continued
13:
Dr. Julian Kenyon, from the Dove Clinic, advises protecting the cell mediated immune function. He says, "The best way is by taking a medicinal mushroom. The one to take is Coriolus (as a powder), 4 grams, three times a day." MGN-3 works in a similar immune boosting way, as does the Indian herb Carctol, and both seem to improve chemo results and reduce side effects. But they are expensive.
14:
Avoid all alcohol as your liver doesn't need any more toxins. It needs strengthening, so take 200mgs of milk thistle (Silybum marianum) and soya lecithin to help to "defat it. Supporting of the liver function is also helped by the use of N-Acetyl Cysteine, an amino acid which raises glutathione levels and helps the liver's detoxification pathways.
Force yourself to walk around and take exercise - even though you probably won't want to 15:
Ask a cranial osteopath or acupuncturist to rebalance the energy flow around the body and help with nausea. You can continue to see your healer.
16:
Force yourself to walk around and take exercise, even though you probably won't want to. As a minimum, do 20 minutes deep breathing exercises every day. Get out in the fresh air. Yoga and Tai chi are not strenuous but have massive benefits even when it's the first time you do them.
17:
After chemotherapy, take a simple detox for about three days to try and clean up your system. But bear in mind that the chemical effects of the chemo will be expected to go on for 6-8 weeks after the last dose.
18:
Astragalus, cat's claw, Echinacea and Cassie tea (Essiac) can all be taken after treatment is finished, to re-stimulate the immune system. Adults can take wild yam to boost their DHEA levels; everyone can eat salads and carbohydrate in the evening (carbohydrates and salads aid seratonin production, which in turn stimulates melatonin levels).
19:
You must stimulate both body and mind. Use light massage, reflexology, healing. It is a proven fact that visualisation, yoga and meditation all help boost the immune system and have a significant effect on long-term survival rates, so take time each day to use relaxation techniques.
20:
Fatigue comes with every chemo treatment! Yes you can, and should, rest... Moreover, research by Italian scientists has identified that it is linked to loss of carnitine in the blood, as a result of the chemotherapy toxins. In tests (albeit involving just SO patients given a high energy drink containing levocarnitine) 90% of the patients no longer felt tired just a week after starting the drink.
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