About chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is the most common and well-known systemic anti-cancer therapy, and is used to treat many types of cancer. Chemotherapy drugs can be given as a single drug or several different types of drugs can be given together, known as combination chemotherapy.

These drugs enter your blood stream and destroy cancer cells, stopping them from dividing and growing. Healthy cells can also be damaged during treatment and this can cause a number of side effects. Whilst these side effects can be severe, they are usually temporary as healthy cells grow back quickly.

At HCA Healthcare UK we provide chemotherapy and systematic anti-cancer therapy throughout our network of hospitals and specialist cancer treatment centres in London and Manchester.

Hormone therapy

Some types of cancer are hormone-sensitive or dependent, which means they use the hormones in your body to grow. Hormone therapy is a treatment that uses drugs to lower or block the level of hormones in your body to slow down or stop the growth of cancer.

This treatment can be used to treat some types of breast, ovarian, womb or prostate cancer. If your diagnostic tests show that you have a type of cancer that is hormone dependent, your consultant will discuss the most appropriate treatment options with you and provide all the information you need to make an informed decision about your care.

Targeted drug therapies

Cancer cells are different to normal cells because changes occur in the DNA (genes). This means they behave differently to normal cells, can grow and divide quickly and can spread.

Targeted drug therapies use specific drugs to target these genetic differences and destroy cancer cells.

Targeted therapy is not suitable for types of cancer, but can be effective in treating some types of melanoma and leukaemia and are under clinical trial of other types of cancer.

Fertility preservation

Some cancer treatments, such as radiotherapy, chemotherapy or surgery, can compromise a patient’s ovarian, testicular or uterine function. If the patient’s fertility is at risk, the opportunity to preserve fertility prior to treatment can be explored.

At HCA Healthcare UK, we operate the Lister Fertility Clinic in London, the UK’s largest fertility clinic. This service provides men and women with the opportunity to preserve their fertility, where necessary, by freezing sperm, eggs or embryos.

For patients in Manchester, The Christie Private Care works with a specialist fertility team in the region to support patients locally.

More about fertility preservation and cancer