Per Doctor Tar Chand there are over 100 types of cancers. As of October 2021 there are over 100 different chemotherapy drugs on the market.

Per the National Library of Medicine there are types of chemotherapy.

Chemotherapy is the use of medicine to treat cancer. Chemotherapy kills cancer cells. It may be used to cure cancer, help keep it from spreading, or reduce symptoms.

In some cases, people are treated with a single type of chemotherapy. But often, people get more than one type of chemotherapy at a time. This helps attack the cancer in different ways.

Targeted therapy and immunotherapy are other cancer treatments that use medicine to treat cancer.

Standard chemotherapy works by killing cancer cells and some normal cells. Targeted treatment and immunotherapy zero in on specific targets (molecules) in or on cancer cells.

 

How Doctors Choose Your Chemotherapy

The type and dose of chemotherapy your doctor gives you depends on many different things, including:

• The type of cancer you have
• Where the cancer first showed up in your body
• What the cancer cells look like under a microscope
• Whether the cancer has spread
• Your age and general health

 

How Chemotherapy Works

All cells in the body grow by splitting into two cells, or dividing. Others divide to repair damage in the body. Cancer occurs when something causes cells to divide and grow out of control. They keep growing to form a mass of cells, or tumor.

Chemotherapy attacks dividing cells. This means that it is more likely to kill cancer cells than normal cells. Some types of chemotherapy damage the genetic material inside the cell that tells it how to copy or repair itself. Others types block chemicals the cell needs to divide.

Some normal cells in the body divide often, such as hair and skin cells. These cells also may be killed by chemo. That is why it can cause side effects like hair loss. But most normal cells can recover after treatment ends.

 

Chemotherapy Drugs

There are more than 100 different chemotherapy drugs. Below are the seven main types of chemotherapy, the types of cancer they treat, and examples. The caution includes things that differ from typical chemotherapy side effects.

For more information go to: https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000910.htm

Most people when diagnosed experience terrible fear. Including me. But to be honest, treatment and options have improved through the years and keep getting better. As an example for my lymphoma I was on just two chemo-therapy drugs. One was taken every day for 21 days out of the month with a seven-day rest. The other was an infusion once every other month. On infusion day, I would go to bed when I got home.

But, here is the amazing thing. Your body adjusts. It is incredible what you learn and how you get through treatment. My treatment was much better than I ever dreamed it could be. Did I have side effects? YES. Did I sleep a lot in the beginning? Yes. Was there pain? Yes. Did I have a life? YES! Could I eat? Yes! Did I feel pretty good? Yes! And so can you!