chemotherapy

[Donna and Flame]

Unfortunately, I know way more than I ever wanted to know about chemo and radiation. In a nutshell...
Chemo usually consists of the administration of very strong drugs (drugs will differ depending on type of cancer) via IV that are aimed at killing the cancer cells. It is a systemic treatment, meaning that it is not focused on one area of the body but that the drugs circulate thru your entire body via the bloodstream. Therefore, chemo also kills healthy cells (ie: why people lose their hair) and allows for the cells to regrow (hopefully healthy).

Radiation is a focused treatment on the area where the cancer is/was and is often given in conjunction with chemo or afterwards. Radiation uses strong, focused proton / electron beams to kill the cancer cells in a particular area of the body. Other types of radiation are available for certain cancers.

Dialysis is used for people in kidney failure and a process by which the blood is cleansed by an external method (a machine) when the kidneys can no longer do so themselves. Treatments are usually several times per week.

Hope this helps.

 

[Jess & Earl]

Unfortunately, I know way more than I ever wanted to know about chemo and radiation. In a nutshell...
Chemo usually consists of the administration of very strong drugs (drugs will differ depending on type of cancer) via IV

Just want to point out that chemo drugs can be oral, as well, and the dose and frequency can be adjusted for the cat/dog patient to minimize side effects.

 

[Melanie and Smokey]

Just want to point out that chemo drugs can be oral, as well, and the dose and frequency can be adjusted for the cat/dog patient to minimize side effects.

Yes, they can be oral, IV, or a combination of the 2 are used depending on the cancer and its progression. The oncos I worked with also stressed that in cats the "highest tolerated dose" is targeted so if there are any side effects noted, the dose is adjusted. Because the dose used in cats is so low, they usually don't lose their hair.

 

[shadycat]

My cat Shady went through radiation therapy for a fibrosarcoma tumor. My understanding is that if the tumor is thought to be localized, radiation is ideal because it just targets that area and doesn't generally have any systemic side effects, just localized side effects like hair loss in that spot. If the cancer has metastasized, or is in a spot that you couldn't do radiation, chemo is used, since like others said, it is systemic. Often they are used in combination, and radiation can be used to shrink a tumor pre-op. There are more vets that do chemo than radiation due to the expensive equipment required for RT (I had to travel 3 hours for radiation therapy for Shady). So, probably sometimes chemo might be used even if radiation might be better suited for that type of cancer, if you live in an area where there are no radiation oncology vets nearby. Not sure but I am guessing radiation is more expensive than chemo also.

If anyone has any questions about radiation therapy or fibrosarcoma in cats, feel free to ask, although we are pretty early on in our journey (dx in late February, radiation and surgery was in March-April). This is an aggressive cancer, but with getting RT and surgery, average recurrence is 25-50%, whereas without it pretty much would have been 100% fatal.

 

[Ry & Scooter]

This is spam, just so you guys know. Look at the links in the post. I reported it.

 

[shadycat]

This is spam, just so you guys know. Look at the links in the post. I reported it.

Oh, ok, thanks! I thought it was a little odd that they weren't asking about a cat, just mentioned their parents. Maybe at least the replies can be of help if anyone is searching for cancer info in cats, even if the OP was spam.