Chemotherapy

Provided by: Healthwise
42% of users found this article helpful.

Chemotherapy is the use of medication to destroy cancer cells. Chemotherapy is called a systemic treatment because the medications enter the bloodstream, travel through the body, and can destroy cancer cells outside the target area.

Chemotherapy may be taken by mouth (orally), or it may be given through a needle into a vein (intravenously, or IV) or a muscle (intramuscular, or IM).

Author:Shannon Erstad, MBA/MPH
Medical Review:E. Gregory Thompson, MD - Internal Medicine
Philip Belitsky, MD, FRCSC - Urology
Last Updated: 05/25/2007

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