Should i stop chemotherapy

Or check www. At any time during your treatment you can get help to relieve your symptoms and improve your quality of life. Care near the end of life is called hospice care. Hospice is care for your physical, mental, and spiritual needs at the end of life. It does not treat your cancer, but it helps keep you free of pain and other symptoms. And it helps you and your family get the most out of the time you have left together.

You may reach a point when there are no more effective cancer treatments for you. You may have reached that point if:. This report is for you to use when talking with your health-care provider. It is not a substitute for medical advice and treatment.

Use of this report is at your own risk. Developed in cooperation with the American Society of Clinical Oncology. To learn more about the sources used in this report and terms and conditions of use, visit ConsumerHealthChoices. Some patients may also opt for clinical trials that offer access to experimental, potentially effective, treatments. But each person has to think carefully and decide, on their own terms, whether such options are worth pursuing.

Understanding what really matters to you will help guide your decision about whether to stop treatment and start hospice. The best way to navigate circumstance like these is to start having conversations with your loved one before either of you become ill. Marcus says. Do I want doctors to use invasive measures to keep me alive?

Am I OK with being kept alive on machines, with living on a ventilator? These conversations are not easy. Are you up for another round of chemotherapy, or would you rather focus on enjoying the time you have left? Also, the risk of damage to organs depends on the location of the tumor. Some types of cancer do not respond well to radiation or chemotherapy, so a person may need to try immunotherapy. Immunotherapies either stimulate the immune system in a general way or train it to attack cancer cells directly.

Immunotherapy may work when other treatments do not, and it can have other advantages. For example, it:. Also, after learning to target cancer cells, the immune system remembers this response if cancer reappears. Hormone therapy works by either stopping the body from producing hormones or interfering with how hormones affect the body.

Hormone therapy to treat breast cancer, or antiestrogen therapy, focuses on lowering estrogen levels. This may involve surgical procedures, such as the removal of the ovaries, or medications that interrupt signals from the pituitary gland, which stimulates estrogen production.

Hormone therapy to treat prostate cancer, or androgen-suppression therapy, lowers testosterone and dihydrotestosterone DHT production. Treatments include surgical procedures to remove one or both testicles and medications that prevent the production of testosterone and DHT. Hormone therapy can prevent the spread of cancer to other parts of the body.

It can also help reduce the risk of cancer returning after surgery. This involves using medication that specifically targets cancer cells, destroying them from the inside. Unlike chemotherapy, targeted therapy does not affect healthy cells. It targets cancer by identifying particular genetic abnormalities in cancer cells. Targeted therapy works best in combination with other treatments. There are many types of targeted therapy, and they employ different methods.

These therapies may fight cancer by:. If tests suggest that chemotherapy does not work or has stopped working, the doctor may recommend other options. Anyone with concerns that chemotherapy is not working should raise these with their cancer doctor, or oncologist. A person may wish to stop chemotherapy for a while or altogether.

This may be because of adverse side effects, because the treatment seems to be ineffective, or for other reasons. Anyone who is considering stopping should speak with their doctor first. They will describe the possible next steps and help the person make the right decision. If cancer does not respond to chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or other treatments, palliative care is still an option.