Chemo medication refers to a group of medicines that are used during chemotherapy of cancer patients. Also called chemo meds, most of the chemo medications are high-strength, potent formulations that are administered for the sole purpose of destroying the cancerous cells. Usually, chemo medications are not available by prescription also. They are administered by the clinical staff or under some form of healthcare supervision or retailed within a clinical facility itself. Some secondary chemo drugs are prescribed to patients who are using chemo medications. These medications are given to enhance the effectivity of the chemo drugs or to restrain their side-effects.



Administering Chemo Medications



There are various methods to deliver the chemo medications. This is often decided based upon the severity of the condition and the age of the patient. In the case of children with cancer, pediatric oncologists are consulted to ascertain the best method of administering the chemo meds. Along with the method-of-administration, it is also important to have a chemotherapy schedule. This is because the concentration of medications and the number of chemo sessions have to be calculated. Further, chemo may be rendered on a sustained basis or on periodic basis. The intervening time can be drastically reduced if it is felt that the patient needs the next chemo session as a life-saving procedure. The most common methods of administering chemo medications include:

Intravenous Administration of Chemo Drugs

This is perhaps the most common method of giving chemo medications. The needle is injected into a chosen site which is usually a palpable vein. The needle is attached to an IV container (usually a pouch) that contains the medication. The medication is delivered directly into the bloodstream of the patient. Other methods of intravenous administration include the use of a catheter. However, the use of catheter isn't very common. A small tube can also be attached to the vein but again, this practice is not very prevalent. The intravenous form of delivering chemo drugs is the most common practice since it is equally useful for precision-oriented and generalized chemotherapy. The use of veins for delivering the drug also means that the side-effects are largely contained.

Oral Administration of Chemo Drugs

Here, the chemo drugs are prescribed in the form of pills or liquids that are self-administered by the patient. However, most of the oral medications are used in conjunction with an IV chemo session. There are rare circumstances when a cancer can be comprehensively controlled by using oral medications only. This is due to two reasons. Firstly, oral administration means that the medication is being taken without medical supervision. Since the chemo meds are highly-potent mixtures, this can prove fatal. Secondly, with packaged medications, manipulating the dosage needs the presence of medical personnel. Further, some of the more potent formulations cannot be delivered in the pill form, i.e. they can be administered using the IV format only.