Chemotherapy
Treating your cancer with powerful medicine
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Helping You Fight Cancer with Chemotherapy
At Mount Auburn Hospital, we offer a full range of treatments to help you fight cancer. This includes chemotherapy, also known as chemo. Chemotherapy involves the use of medication to destroy cancer cells or slow their growth.
The type of cancer you have, and its extent, helps us decide if chemotherapy is right for you. If so, our medical oncologists may recommend it, either alone or in combination with other treatments. You can count on us to follow the highest standards of care if chemotherapy is suited to your particular cancer. We provide you with the education and support you need to get the most out of your treatment and your journey to better health.
Types of Cancer We Treat with Chemotherapy
We use chemotherapy to treat many types of cancer including, but not limited to the following:
- Bladder cancer
- Brain cancer
- Breast cancer
- Chronic leukemia
- Colon cancer
- Hodgkin disease
- Kidney cancer
- Lung cancer
- Lymphoma
- Multiple myeloma
- Ovarian cancer
- Pancreatic cancer
- Sarcoma
- Skin cancer
- Stomach cancer
- Urologic cancer
- Uterine cancer
Frequently Asked Questions
Get answers to commonly asked questions about chemotherapy at Mount Auburn Hospital.
The type of chemotherapy you receive depends on the type of cancer you have. We give chemotherapy in a variety of ways:
- By mouth (in a pill or liquid you swallow)
- Intravenously (directly into a vein)
- Topically (through a cream you rub on your skin)
- Via injection (into a muscle or under your skin)
When you receive your treatment at Mount Auburn Hospital’s Infusion Center, we try to make your experience as easy and as comfortable as possible. You have access to a blanket warmer, a TV and iPads loaded with movies and magazines.
Your care team will determine how often you should receive chemotherapy. Your treatment schedule may depend on:
- The goals of treatment (for example, whether to cure your cancer, control its growth or ease your symptoms).
- The type of cancer you have and its stage.
- The type of chemotherapy you’re getting.
- Your body’s response to treatment.
To get the most benefit from chemotherapy, it’s important to follow your recommended treatment schedule. If you experience side effects, ask your doctor or nurse about changing your treatment schedule.
Chemotherapy targets fast-growing cells. These include tumor cells. But the treatment may also affect healthy cells in your mouth, digestive tract and hair. If these cells are affected, it may cause side effects, such as dry mouth, nausea and hair loss. We work with you to manage these and other potential side effects. We also offer a number of support services to help you successfully manage treatment.
If you experience chemotherapy-related side effects, we’re ready to help. Please call the Mount Auburn Hospital Hematology Oncology Center at 617-499-5166 right away if you experience any of the following:
- Blood in your urine or stool
- Coughing with mucus
- Fever higher than 100.5 degrees
- Mouth sores or difficulty swallowing
- Pain or burning during urination
- Severe constipation or diarrhea
- Shortness of breath
- Soreness or redness at your IV site
- Uncontrollable shivering
- Vomiting that continues 48 hours after treatment
Get Started
Take the first step on your journey toward better health.
Meet Our Medical Oncologists/Hematologists
Cancer Care
If you have cancer, we have the services and specialties to support you at every stage of your cancer journey.
