Traditional chemotherapies are natural and manufactured drugs that selectively destroy cancer cells by interfering with how cancer cells grow and divide. Chemotherapy may be used after surgery to decrease the risk of a cancer returning in your body. Chemotherapy may also be used after a cancer has returned or spread (metastasized) to decrease the cancer in your body, prolong your life, minimize symptoms from the cancer or cure you of the disease.

There are dozens of unique chemotherapies that are often used in combination to treat and cure patients of cancer, and treatment is tailored specifically for each patient in order to maximize the benefits of treatment and minimize the side effects. Chemotherapy is often used in combination with radiation therapy (beams of high energy that are used to destroy cancer) in order to improve upon the success of radiation therapy.

Prior to starting chemotherapy, your doctors and nurses at Northwest Oncology & Hematology (NWOH) will provide a thorough explanation of the risks and benefits of treatment, and every effort will be made to decrease the side effects of therapy and treat those side effects when they occur.

For more on chemotherapy, contact Northwest Oncology & Hematology. Call any of our five locations: 847.870.4100 (Rolling Meadows office), 847.437.3312 (Elk Grove Village office), 847.885.4100 (Hoffman Estates office), 847.842.0180 (Barrington office), and 847.577.1023 (Elgin office). For your convenience, you can also use our New Patient Appointment online form to schedule your consultation with us.