Other ways of having chemotherapy

There are other ways of having chemotherapy, depending on the drugs being used and the type of cancer you have. You may be offered oral chemotherapy, injections, or creams that you apply to the skin.

Learn more about:

• Oral chemotherapy
• Injections (local chemotherapy)
• Cream
• Transarterial chemoembolisation (TACE)

Oral chemotherapy

Some types of chemotherapy can be taken as tablets or capsules at home. Your doctor, nurse or pharmacist will tell you how and when to take them, and how to handle the drugs safely.

Injections (local chemotherapy)

Less commonly, chemotherapy can be injected using a needle into different parts of the body, including:

• into a muscle, usually in your buttock or thigh (intramuscular)
• under the skin (subcutaneous)
• into the fluid around the spine (intrathecal – this is also known as a lumbar puncture)
• into an artery (intra-arterial)
• into the abdomen (intraperitoneal)
• into the outer lining of the lungs (intrapleural)
• into the bladder (intravesical)
• into the tumour (intralesional; this method is rare).

Cream 

Some skin cancers are treated using a chemotherapy cream applied directly to the skin. This is called topical chemotherapy. For more on this, see Topical treatments for skin cancer.

Transarterial chemoembolisation (TACE)

This treatment is used for primary liver cancer or some types of cancer that have spread to the liver. TACE combines chemotherapy and a procedure which stops blood flow to the tumour (embolisation). The tumour is injected with chemotherapy as well as a substance (usually oil or tiny plastic beads) that blocks the tumour’s blood supply.

→ READ MORE: Waiting for chemotherapy

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