home
articles on war on cancer
THE TRUTH ABOUT SIDE EFFECTS
From The Cancer Chronicles #7
©Dec. 1990 by Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D.
THIS IS THE COMPANION PIECE TO THE "CHEMO'S
'BERLIN WALL' CRUUMBLES' ARTICLE. I REVISITED
THIS GROUND IN FAR GREATER DETAIL IN MY BOOK
QUESTIONING CHEMOTHERAPY--ED.
Most of the 40 or so chemotherapeutic agents cause baldness by
producing a weakened hair shaft that breaks off at the scalp. Hair
may take years to return to normal.
Nausea and vomiting are common. Many patients get sick just
pulling into the hospital parking lot. Such nausea can lead to
weakness, weight loss, dehydration and electrolyte imbalance.
Other GI effects are infections of the mucous lining, lips, tongue
and mouth. Abdominal colic, constipation, diarrhea are all
common. Candida (thrush) is found in 13 percent of patients.
Doxorubicin causes esophagus inflammation in 50 percent.
Toxic drugs leaking from a needle causes skin necrosis; severe
damage to nerves, tendons and muscle can follow. Surgeons treat
this by excising the skin, followed by grafts to repair the damage.
Radiation recall: skin, trying to heal from radiation burns,
reddens and peels again; blisters and oozing follow. 5-FU can even
make people burn from normal sunlight.
Busulfan and other drugs cause discoloration of the skin,
weakness, inability to eat and weight loss. Doxorubicin causes
darkening of fingers and toes. Bleomycin results in weird
pigmentation of the trunk. Thiotepa leads to whitening of the
eyelids, nail damage, brittleness, loosening and even loss of nail
plates.
Most anti-cancer drugs also cause second cancers, especially of
the GI tract, ovaries, and lungs. These are nearly impossible to
treat. Tumors continue to develop for years. In one study, 17.6
percent of survivors developed unrelated cancer up to 15 years
later.
Immune system damage is almost universal. The whole panoply of
blood diseases is seen: thrombocytopenia with its loss of white
blood cell which guards against infection; severe bone marrow
hypoplasia; inability to synthesize fibrinogen; abnormally long
bleeding time; granulocytopenia. Resulting infections can be
treated with antibiotics, but these can bring their own set of side
effects.
Heart damage can occur weeks, months or years after treatment,
signalled by rapid heart beat, shortness of breath, distended neck
veins, swollen ankles, enlarged liver and heart. Up to 30 percent of
high-dose Doxorubicin-recipients develop congestive heart
failure.
Over 40 percent of patients experience mouth ulcers, pain and
bleeding, which can make eating a torture. Other problems:
candida, herpes and viral infections; dry mouth, drooling, painful
swallowing. Loss of sensation, muscle pain, weakness and changes
in senses and motor skills are common. Methotrexate causes stiff
neck, headache, nausea, vomiting, fever and lethargy for up to 72
hours. Paralysis, paraplegia and death have also occurred.
Vinblastine and vincristine cause double vision, loss of bladder
control, impotence, and paralysis of the bowel wall.
Ear damage and hearing loss are associated with cis-platin, which
is being used against testicular, ovarian, cervical, head and neck
cancers.
Reproductive organs can be profoundly damaged, resulting in
sterility.
BCNU causes pulmonary fibrosis: lungs harden, with dry cough,
fever, difficult breathing and cyanosis in 2030 percent of patients.
CHART: Relatively rare forms of cancer treatable through
chemotherapy:
TYPE OF CANCER CURE RATE*
| Choriocarcinoma (low-risk patients) | 90 |
| Burkitt's Lymphoma (Stage I) | 90 |
| Acute lymphocytic leukemia | 60 |
| Hodgkin's disease (stage III and IV) | 60 |
| Diffuse histiocytic lymphoma | 70 |
| Nodular mixed lymphoma | 75 |
| Testicular carcinoma (stage II-III) | 70-90 |
| Childhood sarcomas (w/ radiation & surgery) | 70-90 |
| Childhood lymphomas | 75 |
*Percent long-term disease-free survival.
Source: Cecil's Textbook of Medicine (1988)
Coordinator Anne Beattie
@ 144 St. John's Place,
Brooklyn, NY 11217;
Phone 718-636-4433
Fax 718-636-0186