Adjuvant chemotherapy
Adjuvant chemotherapy
Adjuvant chemotherapy is one of the cancer treatment strategies to eliminate distant micro metastases that take place beyond the primary tumor site. Over the years adjuvant chemotherapy improved to the extent where cancer patients have benefited from it significantly. Especially those with cancers like breast cancer, testicular cancer, ovarian cancer. In addition to primary cancer treatments such as surgery or radiation, adjuvant chemotherapy is added to eliminate cancer cells that may have spread to other parts of the body. It can also be applied before surgery or radiation to shrink tumor size.
The reason why adjuvant chemotherapy is mostly recommended to patients with breast and ovarian cancer is because these types of diseases present high risk of recurrence. If the cancerous growth is larger or has spread to lymph nodes then it’s very likely to have multiplied via bloodstream. Therefore patients are given the chemotherapeutic drugs to eradicate any remaining presence of cancer cells that can spread even after the tumor has been taken out.
Is adjuvant chemotherapy treatment for me?
Adjuvant chemotherapy has gained its importance due to the fact that some cancer cells are so microscopic that even if the tests returned negative that didn’t mean there was no cancer. Therefore doctors currently pay more attention to this approach because it’s possible that cancer cells reside undetected in the body putting some people at risk of having cancer cells that are out of sight. These cells can not be felt or seen on various tests and they don’t cause any symptoms. However there’s a risk they might start new tumors in other parts of the body. It is for this type of people adjuvant chemotherapy is applicable.
It is important for those who are about to undergo cancer treatment to know that tumors are classified according to their curability potential. Therefore adjuvant chemotherapy or in other words complementary chemotherapy is given to patients where average survival is extended when adjuvant chemotherapy is accompanied together with surgery or radiotherapy in the early stages of disease.
Adjuvant chemotherapy has also been shown to be helpful to patients with colorectal cancers.
Once the doctor has done several tests to determine that adjuvant chemotherapy would be needed it’s still not possible to tell whether it’s working. The only safe indicator that doctors rely on is when there’s no breakout of cancer cells during the treatment course. Therefore always consult your doctor prior to this treatment because not every person needs adjuvant chemotherapy.