Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy treatment uses drugs that travel through the blood to find and kill fast-dividing cancer cells, wherever they are. Why does one person's plan include it and another's doesn't? This page explains when it's used, how a course is built, what an infusion day feels like and what drives the cost. Partner medical oncologists at Apollo Hospital give it, and Dr. Karan coordinates it with radiation.
Reviewed by Dr. P. Vijay Karan Reddy · Radiation Oncologist ·
Last updated October 2026
Chemotherapy treatment uses anticancer drugs to kill fast-dividing cells throughout the body. It can be given before surgery, after surgery, as the main treatment, alongside radiation, or to ease symptoms. Drugs are given by IV or as tablets in cycles, with rest periods between. Side effects and cost depend on the drugs and the number of cycles.
Chemotherapy Treatment: Drugs That Reach Cancer Cells Anywhere
Picture a cancer that has already sent a few cells into the bloodstream. Surgery and radiation treat a place. Chemotherapy treats the whole body. Its drugs travel in the blood and attack cells that divide quickly, which is exactly what cancer cells tend to do. That's why it's called systemic treatment.
Healthy cells that divide fast, like hair roots, the gut lining and bone marrow, can be hit too. That explains most side effects. As Cancer Research UK explains, normal cells can usually repair themselves, so many effects fade after treatment. At Apollo Hospital, a partner medical oncologist leads your chemotherapy.
How Chemotherapy Treatment Works in the Body and Over a Course
The drugs act on dividing cells, and they're given in rounds. Here's what happens in the body, and how a course is built.
When Chemotherapy Is Used
In cancer treatment, chemotherapy can serve different goals, set by the cancer, its stage and the tumour board's plan.
Chemotherapy Treatment Cost in India
There's no single chemotherapy treatment price, because no two plans are alike. These four things shape what you'll pay.
Many health policies cover chemotherapy, including day-care sessions, but limits and exclusions vary. Ask your insurer for pre-authorisation before the first cycle, and keep every bill.
Chemotherapy vs. Other Cancer Treatments
Chemotherapy is often compared with newer drugs like targeted therapy and immunotherapy, and with radiation. They do different jobs, and many plans use more than one.
Chemotherapy vs. targeted therapy and immunotherapy
Chemotherapy attacks any fast-dividing cell. Targeted drugs aim at specific changes inside cancer cells, found through molecular testing, and immunotherapy helps the immune system spot cancer. They suit fewer cancers, so chemotherapy often stays the base.
Chemotherapy vs. radiation therapy
Chemotherapy treats the whole body through the blood, so it can reach cancer that has spread. Radiation treats one area with focused beams. Dr. Karan delivers the radiation, and when both are planned he works out timing with the medical oncologist.
Preparing for Chemotherapy
Most preparation is tests and planning, done before the first cycle. These are the four things to expect.
Types of Chemotherapy Treatment by How It's Given
Your medical oncologist picks the route based on the drug and your cancer type.
What a Chemotherapy Day Looks Like
- 01
Check-in and blood test
You arrive at Apollo Hospital, Financial District. Nurses check your vitals, and a blood test confirms your counts are safe for treatment.
- 02
Pre-medicines and set-up
Anti-sickness medicines and fluids come first. Then a nurse connects the IV through a needle or port and double-checks the drugs against your plan.
- 03
Infusion or tablets
IV drugs run in over minutes to hours while you rest, read or chat. Oral drugs are taken at home on a written schedule.
- 04
Going home
Once the drugs finish, you head home with anti-sickness medicines and a number to call, usually the same day.
- 05
The rest period
You rest, eat small meals and report any fever at once. Breast and colon cancer courses run 6 to 8 cycles. For lung, and head and neck cancer, chemotherapy is given weekly alongside radiation for 5 to 6 cycles. Lung cancer treated with chemotherapy alone runs 6 cycles, one every 3 weeks.
Chemotherapy Side Effects and Recovery
Will you lose your hair, or feel sick all the time? It depends on the drugs, and many effects can be prevented or treated.
Short-Term Effects
Nausea, tiredness, mouth sores, hair loss and a higher risk of infection are common, though no drug causes all of them. Anti-sickness medicines, mouth care and reporting fever quickly keep most under control.
Long-Term Effects
A few effects show up months or years later, like nerve damage in the hands and feet, or changes to the heart or fertility. Ask which apply to your drugs.
Recovery Between Cycles
The rest period is when blood counts recover. Most people keep up light routines, and many keep working. Rest, fluids and small meals help, and the team reviews you before each cycle.
Considering Chemotherapy? Get a Second Opinion First
Not sure chemotherapy is the right fit, or how it sits with radiation in your plan? Send your reports and scans. Dr. Karan will review them, explain where radiation fits alongside chemotherapy, and bring in his partner medical oncologist for the drug plan. His eleven years in radiation oncology shape that advice.
What Happens After Treatment
Chemotherapy effects keep easing for weeks after the last cycle. Here's the general roadmap, not a personal schedule.
Your timing depends on the cancer, the drugs and how you recover. Your medical oncologist sets the schedule, and Dr. Karan joins in where radiation was part of your plan.
Questions Patients Ask Us
It depends on the drugs, the care setting and the number of cycles, so there's no single chemotherapy treatment price. The higher average is ₹40,000 to ₹60,000 per cycle, but it can run from ₹10,000 to ₹15,000 up to ₹80,000. That's only to give you an idea, not a blanket price. It depends largely on the type of drug and the dose calculated for each patient. For brain cancer, chemotherapy with radiation costs ₹30,000 to ₹40,000 for the whole six-week course.
Many health policies cover it, but limits and exclusions vary. Ask your insurer for pre-authorisation, and check what your policy says about day-care and oral drugs.
It depends on the cancer, the drugs and how you respond, and courses often run for a few months. Breast and colon cancer typically need 6 to 8 cycles. Head and neck cancer needs 5 to 6 weekly cycles alongside radiation, and lung cancer needs 5 to 6 weekly cycles alongside radiation or 6 cycles every 3 weeks on its own. Your medical oncologist sets the number.
From under an hour to most of a day, depending on the drugs and any pre-medicines. Oral chemotherapy is taken at home instead.
The infusion usually isn't painful beyond the needle prick. Tell the nurse at once if you feel burning or pain at the IV site.
Hair usually starts to regrow within weeks to months after treatment ends. Not every drug causes hair loss.
Many people can, especially with day-care schedules, though tiredness varies. Plan lighter days around treatment days and talk to your team.
Small, frequent, protein-rich meals often sit best, and food safety matters when counts are low. An oncology dietitian can tailor advice to your drugs.
Partner medical oncologists at Apollo Hospital give it. Dr. Karan is the radiation oncologist and coordinates with them where both treatments are in the plan.
Get a Clear Plan for Your Chemotherapy Treatment
Send your reports and scans. Dr. Karan will explain where radiation fits, and his partner medical oncologist will cover the chemotherapy side. Clear next steps, no hard sell.
Written & reviewed by Dr. P. Vijay Karan Reddy ·
Radiation Oncologist · Last reviewed October 2026