Can chemotherapy hurt you more than cancer left untreated?

That is a Myth!: Chemotherapy is just a medicine...So it does not and should not hurt! sure chemotherapy can have some side effects but they are controllable and usually are from nausea and poor appetite. So here is no actual hurting or harrm from chemotherapy.

I've always wondered: ...Why people ask that question all the time and i hate to think it may be because we docs are not clear regarding benefits vs. Risks of therapy. Chemo has side effects that vary from patient to patient and from chemo to chemo. Those side effects have to be justified by the benefits in every particular situation. Please do not keep that myth alive and thank you for asking.

Difficult question..: Treating with chemo involves a risk/benefit analysis that depends on many factors. For the majority of cancers, leaving them untreated will cause death. Chemo definitely has side effects, some of them short term, others long. Deciding to treat means benefits of chemo outweigh downsides. This is usually the case, but for a cancer not responsive to chemo, death from not treating may be preferable.