Summary: The side effects of chemotherapy tablets are generally the same as chemotherapy given in other forms, though they tend to not be as strong or harsh because of lower dosages. Find out how all chemotherapy cancer treatments has the same general side effects with information from a doctor in this free video on chemotherapy and cancer treatments.
Dr. David Cathcart has been a family doctor and occupational medicine specialist for more than 20 years. He works at Heartland Regional Medical Center in St. Joseph, Mo.read more
"Hello, I'm Dr. David Cathcart. I'm a Family Practice Physician from Heartland Regional Medical Center in St. Joseph and we're going to talk about chemotherapy drugs and their side effects today. Chemotherapy can be given in a, in a manner of different ways. You can be given topically; for example for skin cancers, it can be given intravenously. In fact in many times when someone is, first started in chemotherapy is given, given through their veins. It can be given directly into the bladder; for example for treating a bladder cancer, or it can be given in pills. In any case, no matter how it's given, cancer chemotherapy drugs usually work by killing cells that are rapidly dividing. So the side effects you would get from any of those agents; depending on, no matter where you're giving it or how you're giving it, occur because it's killing cells that are rapidly dividing which is not only cancer cells, but also cells that are normally dividing. So the side effects of oral agents or pills that you take for chemotherapy are much the same as they are for any other mechanism that they're given; with the possible exception that the dose is not usually quite as harsh; not quite as strong and the side effects consequently will not be quite as strong generally speaking. This is Dr. Cathcart talking about the side effects of oral dosing of chemotherapy."