Chemotherapy is the use of anti cancer drugs to kill growing cancer cells in the body abruptly. In different stages of chemotherapy, the drugs diminish the size of tumor cells thereby making them redundant. These drugs target any rapidly dividing cell in the body. As an uncontrolled division is, the unique characteristic of cancer cells, chemotherapy thus stops them to divide any further. However, in the process of curing, chemotherapy drugs unknowingly affect some normal cells in the body, which tend to divide and grow continuously. These normal cells could be cells lining our skin, hair follicle cells, gastrointestinal cells or bone marrow cells. There are different forms of chemotherapy. Which form of chemotherapy should be provided to the patient is decided according to the cancer type and condition of the cancer patient.

The duration and the type of chemotherapy treatment used vary with the extent or seriousness of the cancer. Based on its intensity and evasiveness, cancers could be catalogued into five stages of chemotherapy medication.

1. Stage 0: This is the initial and clandestine finding of tumor or cancer cells in the cellular extract of the tumor

2. Stage 1: Stage 1 refers to the phase where the cancer cells have migrated to a higher layer in the organ but have not yet reached the lymph nodes

3. Stage 2: Stage 2 refers to a situation where the cancer cells have reached lymph nodes surrounding the organ. An excision of the affected organ becomes a possible cure in such cases. If the tumor cannot be operated then, the patient would be subjected to either chemotherapy or radiation.

4. Stage 3: This stage indicates further growth of cancer as the tumor reaches the adjacent lymph nodes. A surgical intervention or chemotherapy becomes important to treat the stage 3 cancer

5. Stage 4: In Stage 4, the cancer metastasizes to other parts of the body. A combination of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation must be considered as a probable treatment in such instances. Chemotherapy radiation therapy is generally preferred method of treatment in such cases.

Chemotherapy can at times be daunting to the patient owing to its strict regime and many cycles. Side effects are further distressing. Since chemotherapy drugs target any cell that divides continuously they end up destroying some normal cells in the body. The disruption of such normally functioning cells causes side effects like:

1. Hair fall: The damage done to the hair follicle cells by chemotherapy leads to either partial or complete baldness. This might reappear after the treatment is over but hair color could vary slightly after chemotherapy.

2. Anemia: The lack of sufficient red blood cells makes a person anemic. Anemia is characterized by low hemoglobin in blood; thus people often appear tired and worn out. They even complain about difficulty in breath.

3. Lowered Immunity: Patients usually lose ample immunity required to fight any infection and thus become more vulnerable to a bacterial or viral infection. This is experienced due to lowered count of white blood cells in the body.

4. Low Platelet Count: A drop in number of platelets exposes a person even to a minor cut which might lead to excessive bleeding

5. Nausea and vomiting: Patients often feel or become sick after the treatment. Chemotherapy doctors might control the irregularity by giving some anti sickness drugs before, during or after the treatment.

6. Loss of appetite and diarrhea: A depletion in cells lining the inner wall of intestine causes diarrhea and watery stools

However, there are five different stages of chemotherapy treatment based on the extent of evasiveness of the tumor. Two broad sub categories are the benign and metastasized tumors. A benign cancer is mild and is not life threatening. However, metastatic cancer metastasizes to other parts of the body and becomes acute.