According to Wikipedia, the definition of chemotherapy is:

[Diane12855]

"Chemotherapy, in its most general sense, is the treatment of disease by chemicals[1] especially by killing micro-organisms or cancerous cells. In popular usage, it refers to antineoplastic drugs used to treat cancer or the combination of these drugs into a cytotoxic standardized treatment regimen. In its non-oncological use, the term may also refer to antibiotics (antibacterial chemotherapy). In that sense, the first modern chemotherapeutic agent was Paul Ehrlich's arsphenamine, an arsenic compound discovered in 1909 and used to treat syphilis. This was later followed by sulfonamides discovered by Domagk and penicillin discovered by Alexander Fleming.

Most commonly, chemotherapy acts by killing cells that divide rapidly, one of the main properties of most cancer cells. This means that it also harms cells that divide rapidly under normal circumstances: cells in the bone marrow, digestive tract and hair follicles; this results in the most common side effects of chemotherapy—myelosuppression (decreased production of blood cells), mucositis (inflammation of the lining of the digestive tract) and alopecia (hair loss).

Other uses of cytostatic chemotherapy agents (including the ones mentioned below) are the treatment of autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis,Dermatomyositis, Polymyositis, Lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and the suppression of transplant rejections (see immunosuppression and DMARDs). Newer anticancer drugs act directly against abnormal proteins in cancer cells; this is termed targeted therapy."


Please note paragraph #2. It sure looks like what a lot of us are dealing with right now.

[Trinity4]

Of course Bill, because that is validating your feelings.  If your head hurts, take two chemos and call me in the morning.

Trin aka DD

[Bill1954]

"Chemotherapy is the usage of "chemicals" to treat disease."

So then if I use acetaminophen for a headache, I'm doing chemo, I guess?

[Cory255]

Interferon is what they give cancer patients, right.  

Chemotherapy is the usage of "chemicals" to treat disease.  Interferon is Chemotherapy.

Tx=Chemotherapy for Hepatitis C.  

[nygirl7]

If you've ever seen anybody on real chemotherapy - someone gone plug and play.........you would never think again to insist that this is what you're doing.  You'd just be damn grateful that you are not in their shoes. This is namby pamby stuff for babies compared to what they have to do - in each and every case no matter how bad you think you've got it.  Overinflated hyperactive dramatic ego's would consider interferon/riba - chemo but most certainly a cancer patient would not.

Has anyone on here really done both? I have one friend who has and she laughs at the idea that anyone would call treatment - chemo.

[Trinity4]

That right Diane, inquiring minds want to know.  I didn't get this knowledgeable about hepc by only consulting Wikipedia.

Trinity

[Trinity4]

And I'd like to know who are the excecutive that summarized?