Simons Weird Ideas on Everything

The word cancer is a name for many different diseases. Each type of cancer affects the body in different ways. But all cancers have one thing in common: they are abnormal cells growing out of control.

Most cells in the body reproduce themselves by splitting into two new cells when the body needs them. Those two cells become four, the four become eight, and so on.   In healthy bodies, cells do not divide randomly.   Rather, cell reproduction inside the body is controlled by a set of biological switches that "turn on" when the body needs new cells, and "turn down" when there are enough new cells and the body needs to slow down reproduction.  

Sometimes, however, this signaling system breaks down, and the body begins to make cells it does not need.  Over several generations of reproduction these unnecessary cells may develop abnormalities, which worsen over time and begin reproducing so quickly that they become tumors or cancers; undifferentiated, lumpy masses of tissue that drain nutrients from the body and squeeze up against vital organs, eventually killing the patient unless they are removed.   

The point of chemotherapy is to stop tumor growth.    Sometimes the intent is to shrink a tumor so that it can be further treated or removed. Chemotherapy may also be used to make a tumor more sensitive to other treatments such as radiation therapy.

Chemo works its magic either by making cancer cells unable to duplicate themselves, or by coaxing them into a process called "apoptosis,” in which they age and die.  Apoptosis in healthy bodies controls the number of cells in our body at any given time.   Most of these cells, taken individually, tend to have short life spans and go through apoptosis. 

Cancer cells, on the other hand, reproduce quickly and tend towards immortality.   They develop into malignant tumors not only because of their tendency to divide uncontrollably, but also because they resist apoptosis; indeed, they reproduce more rapidly than other cells die, which results in the growth of tumors. 

Chemotherapy drugs are able to stop this reproductive process and alter the behavior of tumor cells.   They come in two broad categories: “cytotoxic” drugs, which are designed to kill cells outright, and  “cytostatic” drugs, also called targeted or biologic drugs, which prevent cell reproduction.  Some chemo drugs can be given as pills to be taken at home in accordance with the doctor's directions.   In more serious cases, chemo shots are delivered at clinics, hospitals and clinic.   The most common way to administer chemo, however, is intravenously, through a needle or a catheter, in the hospital.  

Chemotherapy, in sum, can help control, or maybe even cure, many cancers, and it has been achieving these goals since the early 1950s.   In the last sixty years, a majority of chemo drugs have been tested again and again, and the research shows clearly that they work. Partly because of chemo, many people with cancer can have full, healthy lives.  

However, chemo drugs kill any cell that divides quickly, cancerous or healthy, and it can damage fast-growing parts of the body.    This causes side effects, which are described in another article, and summarized briefly here as well.   Among the casualties of war are the brain marrow cells that produce blood; their absence makes patients feel tired, bruise and bleed easily, and risk serious infection.  Also cut down to size are the hair follicles, which produce hair all over the body.  Skin and mouth cells may be killed as well; the result is dry skin and canker sores.  A chemo-induced shortage of healthy cells in the stomach and intestine can also cause vomiting, nausea, and diarrhea. 

To some extent, these side effects can be controlled through careful spacing of doses.  Most are short-term and will go away after treatment stops.   Some side effects, however, can last forever.

The first of these is lifelong infertility.  Chemo can destroy the cells lining men's testicles and women's ovaries, making it impossible to fertilize an egg in the future and hence, give birth to a new baby.   The second side effect only applies to pregnant women.  Chemotherapy creates a severe risk of birth defects in the unborn child, because of its destructive effect on the uterus and the placenta.   Finally, chemotherapy often results in a long-term decrease in sexual desire.   In many cancer survivors, the libido is low or even gone for some time, although it can come back when treatment ends.  Among women, chemotherapy wreaks havoc with hormones, causing hot flashes and dryness of the vagina.

Should these long-term side effects be too much for the patient to bear, it may be worth considering natural alternatives to chemotherapy.   In 2003, Cancer Tutor, an organization promoting natural cancer treatments, conducted a survey of alternative cancer treatment practitioners.  Over 95% of the their patients had a foot in the grave-- either were expecting to die in the next few months, or they had given up on chemotherapy and other traditional treatments because they were too painful.    The practitioners told Cancer Tutor that they had a success rate of 50% with these supposedly end-of-life patients; half of them recovered from the cancer and continued on with their lives.