Chemotherapy Pills

When most people think of chemotherapy, they think of IV injections. However, there are actually some types of chemotherapy that are given in the form of a pill. Chemotherapy pills can be given with or in place of intravenous chemotherapy drugs. The type of treatment chosen by your doctor will be based upon the most recent medical research, the type of cancer you have, and the aggressiveness of your tumor or cancer.

Types of Chemotherapy Pills

Different types of chemotherapy pills are used for different types of cancer. This is one of the main factors that your doctor will consider before choosing which type of chemotherapy pill you should take. Your doctor will choose the type of chemotherapy pill that has the best chances of killing the cancer cells in your body. Not all chemotherapy drugs are available in the form of a pill. Because of this, you should be aware that there may not be a pill to take for the type of cancer you have.

Each pill contains a different type of drug and all pills are classified by the drugs they contain. Alkalating agents include the drugs chlorambucil, cisplatin, carboplatin, buslfan, and carboplatin. While found in most chemotherapy pills, are much stronger in some chemotherapy pills. Pills that contain higher doses of alkalating agents are generally used to treat the most commonly occurring cancers like ovarian cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, and lymphoma cancers.

Antimetabolits are used to slow down DNA and RNA growth. They are generally used to treat certain types of cancer, like ovarian cancer, leukemia, gastrointestinal cancer, and breast cancer. Antimetabolites are generally used during the early stages of cancer. Included in this group of drugs is pemetrexed, 6-mercaptopurine, 5-flurouacil, gemcitabine, and cytabrine.

Nitrosoureas include the drugs streptozocin, carmustine, and lomustine. These drugs are generally used as a follow-up drug to alkalating agents. They work to prevent cancer regrowth by preventing enzymes in the body from repairing DNA cells that have been damaged by the alkalating agents. This type of chemotherapy drug travels through the bloodstream very quickly and is often used for cancers of the brain. However, they are often used to treat skin cancer as well.

How are Chemotherapy Pills Taken?

There are two basic types of chemotherapy pills; sublingual and oral. Oral chemotherapy pills are coated in a protective layer. Once they are taken and reach the stomach, the acid in the stomach starts to eat away at the coating and then absorbs the pill. The pill is then disbursed into the bloodstream of the body. Coating thickness varies from one pill to the next. This affects the rate at which the pill is absorbed into the body.
Sublingual pills are placed underneath the tongue where they dissolve. As the pills dissolve, they go directly into the bloodstream, making these types of chemotherapy pills very fast acting.

Side Effects of Chemotherapy Pills

Just like intravenous chemotherapy, there are some side effects that can occur with chemotherapy pills. Nausea and vomiting are often the most common side effects experienced with any type of chemotherapy. Anti-nausea drugs are often given to help reduce the nausea experienced while taking chemotherapy drugs. It is important that you take these as instructed to help prevent nausea before it happens. Other possible side effects can include hand and foot problems, heart toxicity, diarrhea, and hair loss.

Chemotherapy Pills vs. Intravenous Chemotherapy

A recent study done performed by the University of Texas compared intravenous chemotherapy and chemotherapy pills. They looked at the drug effectiveness at killing the cancer as well as the severity of the most commonly experienced side effects.

Researchers found that nearly all side effects commonly experienced with intravenous chemotherapy were decreased by taking the chemotherapy pills. The only side effect that was found to be more commonly in patients that were administered the chemotherapy pills was hand and foot problems like burning, tingling, soreness, and redness. Unlike many other side effects often experienced with intravenous chemotherapy, this side effect is not life threatening and rarely has permanent effect on the body.

The speed and efficacy of intravenous chemotherapy has long been an issue in the medical field. Intravenous chemotherapy can be unpredictable and erratic. And, while oral chemotherapy patients did not receive a higher survivability rate, they did experience a faster-shrinking tumor. This is thought to be attributed to the more targeted effect of the chemotherapy pills. There was also a higher chance that the pill would actually shrink the tumor effectively.

When comparing the two together, it is quite evident that the pill form of chemotherapy may become more widely used. However, because of the limited number of drugs that can be given in the form of a pill, intravenous chemotherapy will still exist.