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Rylee Hilton
Jackie Burr
English 2010
20 March 2018
“For so long, the mainstays of cancer treatment have been chemotherapy and radiation.
They're toxic and primitive. We need to look at it in a rational way and say, how can we help the
body heal itself?” (Vertes). Cancer is a disease caused by an uncontrolled division of abnormal
cells in a part of a body. These cells usually create growing masses or lumps and sometimes
tumors. There are many different types of cancer, some being more fatal than others. Not only
are there many different types of this horrible disease but there are different stages as well. Stage
one cancer being the easiest to treat and stage four being the hardest. The stages are based on the
size of the mass the cancer cells have created. Cancer may have no cure but there are remedies to
treat it and help get rid of the cancerous body parts in ones body. These remedies and treatments
are called chemotherapy and radiation. Chemotherapy is a treatment that uses chemical
substances, while radiation is a treatment that uses high energy electromagnetic waves that cause
ionization. Due to research, it is easy to understand that cancer treatments such as radiation and
chemotherapy have negative effects on patients because the treatments are harsh, the cancer may
come back, and the side effects on the inside are not all that effect the patient.
Jasmine Guest, a doctor at the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City states,
“Cancer is a very strong disease meaning the treatment has to be stronger”. This statement made
by the University of Utah doctor dives deep into the understanding of how hard it is to fight off
the horrible disease. Chemotherapy and radiation both have a similar impact on ones body. Both
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treatments can usually make the patient very nauseous and sick in the stomach along with head
pains, body aches, and drowsiness. These side effects occur because of the amount of energy,
power, and electrical waves that are used to kill the cancerous cells often kill some of the patients
healthy cells which causes them to be weak. In the article, “Incidence and severity of
self-reported chemotherapy side effects in routine care: A prospective cohort study” there is a
sentence that stands out by stating, “The side effects of chemotherapy affect an individual’s
physical health, quality of life and emotional state” (Pearce 2). I personally believe that the
sixteen words in this sentence describe how hard one day of treatment is for the cancer patient.
After the patient has finished all the obstacles of treatment such as weeks and months of
chemotherapy or radiation and finding their cancer is completely gone they will get put into
remission. Remission is defined as a short recovery that provides a shortage of disease and pain.
After the patient has been in remission for sometime they may or may not begin having the same
side effects that they originally had when they were diagnosed with the cancer. If so they need to
go to the hospital immediately. If doctors find that the patients cancer has returned, the term
they will use for that is “recurrence” or “relapse”. The patient may have to repeat their original
steps while choosing their treatment or they will be lucky enough to choose a new type of
treatment unlike the one that happened to not work for them the first time. An example of
recurrence is shown in the article, “Fluorocholine PET/CT in patients with occult biochemical
recurrence of prostate cancer: Detection rate, impact on management and adequacy of impact. A
prospective multicentre study”. The article talks about prostate cancer being the cause of most
males passing in Europe and North America. Most men that passed away of the cancer had
recurrence. It means not only did they have prostate cancer once but twice due to the absence of
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lymph node involvement. Refer to the graph below to understand that some patients get lucky the
first time with no relapse, others get lucky the second time, and others have it fatal after the
second round of treatment. If this news was given to these patients it was very unfortunate
because they had to fight the disease all over again, (Gillebert 1)
Unfortunately, the side effects of the chemotherapy and radiation do not only occur on
the inside of the patient’s body by making them sick but, there are also side effects that appear
on the outside that affect the patient. Randy Richins, cancer survivor in remission states, “In the
beginning the treatment did not make me feel well, but I wanted my family to believe I was
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strong. Hiding my sickness was fairly easy until I started to lose some of my outside features,
such as my hair. It was not easy to see this cancer treatment taking over my body”. In Randy’s
situation, it was not difficult until he started to see changes in the mirror. In the article, “Hair
Rehabilitation” the author states, “Some of these studies examine the psychological and social
impact of hair loss especially in relation to women; preparing for hair loss, experiencing hair
falling out, realizing an altered sense of self, trying to look normal, being reminded of the
disease, joking about alopecia, sharing being bald, having problems with wigs, taking control,
experiencing hair growing back”. For some women, losing their hair is on of the hardest parts of
chemotherapy. Most women have more or longer hair than men so loosing what makes them
look more feminine is not easy. With some cancers and receiving treatment, hair loss is not the
only outside side effect. For example, women who are diagnosed with breast cancer have to
remove the mass in their breast or lymph node. To do this removal, the female will have to have
a single or double mastectomy. Mastectomy is defined by the medical term for the surgical
removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely. This procedure is very hard on most
women’s emotional state because their breast feature is one way they are defined as a women on
the outside. In general, no side effect of these treatments where the patient is having to have a
With all the negative effects, there is also some positive occuring while receiving cancer
treatment. Some of the advantages to chemotherapy treatment are being able to take away or
shrink the growth of cancer to stop it from spreading and it may done without incisions. For
example, chemotherapy is done with chemical substances the patient will take in from an IV
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(administered directly into venous circulation/ arm), meaning no incisions have to made for the
chemotherapy to reach the cancer. Not only does chemotherapy have some positives but
radiation treatment has some as well. A pro to radiation is that therapy is able to relieve pain,
pressure, sickness, and many of the other symptoms by shrinking the tumor through
electromagnetic waves.
In conclusion, yes. According to doctors, academic journals, and online sources cancer
treatments such as radiation and chemotherapy do have some negative effects on patients
because the treatments are harsh, the cancer may come back, and the side effects on the inside
Works Cited
Trushna Batt.
Impact. A Prospective Multicentre Study." Plos ONE, vol. 13, no. 2, 09 Feb. 2018, pp
Women, Cancer and Rehabilitation." Anthropology & Medicine, vol. 14, no. 1, Apr.
Pearce, Alison, et al. "Incidence and Severity of Self-Reported Chemotherapy Side Effects in
Routine Care: A Prospective Cohort Study." Plos ONE, vol. 12, no. 10, 10 Oct. 2017, pp.
chemotherapy .