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Rylee Hilton

Jackie Burr

English 2010

20 March 2018

Are There Negative Effects to Getting Your Cancer Treatment?

“​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

Loss Induced by Chemotherapy: An Anthropological Study of Women, Cancer and

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

procedure is easy on one's’ emotional state.

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

are not all that effect the patient.

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Works Cited

Arora, Harish. “Breast Cancer Research-Treatment Results Quantified​.” ​Tangible Treatments​,

Trushna Batt.

Gillebert, Quentin, et al. "18F-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." ​Plos ONE​, vol. 13, no. 2, 09 Feb. 2018, pp

1-13 EBSCO​host​, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0191487.

Hansen, Helle Ploug. "Hair Loss Induced by Chemotherapy: An Anthropological Study of

Women, Cancer and Rehabilitation." ​Anthropology & Medicine​, vol. 14, no. 1, Apr.

2007, pp. 15-26. EBSCO​host​, doi:10.1080/13648470601106335.

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.

1-12. EBSCO​host​, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0184360.

Vertes, Eva. “Chemotherapy Quotes .” ​Brainy Quote​, 2001, www.brainyquote.com/topics/

chemotherapy .