Chemotherapy for metastases
The use of chemotherapy for metastases depends on their location in relation to the surrounding organs, tissues and lymph nodes. Metastases of malignant tumors can form in any organ; they develop from cancer cells that break away from the primary tumor and are carried along the blood (hematogenous pathway) and lymphatic (lymphogenous pathway) vessels.
Chemotherapy in the fight against metastases is aimed at suppressing the growth of tumor cells, it is used only when the effect on the tumor is possible. Recurrences and metastases of a cancerous tumor are serious complications and pose a great danger to the patient's life, more threatening than the primary tumor. Chemotherapy for metastases is carried out with one or a complex of drugs, there are:
- neoadjuvant therapy - is prescribed to reduce the mass and biological activity of the tumor, to determine the sensitivity of the tumor to this method;
- adjuvant therapy - drug treatment, ancillary, complementary to surgical and radiation methods. Provides long-term suppression of microscopic cancer metastases after removal or radiation treatment of the primary tumor;
- palliative therapy is used to improve the quality of life of patients with progressive forms of disease, if local or distant tumor processes cannot be surgically removed and when the possibilities of specialized treatment are limited or do not bring results;
A feature of chemotherapy is the establishment of a specific dose of a chemotherapy drug, determined in each case. A single gold standard of treatment is accepted only for some stages of a number of tumors. One of the main tasks that doctors set themselves in the treatment of metastatic cancer is to preserve the quality of life. Given this, preference is given to drugs with the least toxic effect. The means of protecting the body from the side complications of chemotherapy is considered to be concomitant therapy and adjustment of regimens.
Correction of the regimens is carried out by reducing the course doses of chemotherapy drugs, dividing the intake of drugs on different days, splitting a one-day dose for several days, prolonging the break between courses of treatment, replacing the cytostatic with a less toxic agent.
The basic principles of chemotherapy include:
- the choice of the drug according to its antitumor action;
- selection of an acceptable dose, course and method of application of the drug to ensure a therapeutic effect without irreversible side effects;
- elucidation of the factors for which dose and regimen adjustment is needed in order to exclude complications after chemotherapy;
Chemotherapy is one of the most common treatments for cancer. But, despite the rather high efficiency of such a procedure, rehabilitation after chemotherapy is quite long with a large number of complications. The use of various combinations of appropriate drugs to destroy cancer cells negatively affects healthy cells in the body.
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Among the most common complications of chemotherapy are vomiting, nausea, abnormalities in the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, increased suppression of the immune system, baldness and many other factors. Recovering from chemotherapy is possible with high protein foods. Taking a multivitamin is helpful to strengthen the immune system. Chemotherapy drugs can be administered orally and intravenously into a vein, or by drip.
Medicines are injected into a peripheral vein with a fine needle or into a central vein through a catheter into an artery associated with the tumor. Also, the manipulation of drug administration is performed by injection into the muscles, under the skin, or directly into a metastatic tumor. After the active anticancer agents enter the bloodstream, they are transported to tumor cells anywhere in the body.
If necessary, chemotherapeutic agents are injected into specific areas of the body, such as the intestines or spinal fluid, abdomen, pleural space, and bladder. Advances in modern science have made it possible to achieve the quality of drugs, improve the methods of their administration and ways to alleviate or eliminate side effects. Chemotherapy in recent years has become less painful and is tolerated by patients quite easily.
There are also impressive results in the development of effective treatments that combine chemotherapy with radiotherapy and surgery. All this is carried out with the aim of healing or prolonging life in critical situations. Chemotherapy courses are prescribed to prevent tumor recurrence within 1-1.5 years after surgery. Strict adherence to the intervals between treatment courses of chemotherapy and the passage of further treatment is a very important condition, because anticancer drugs may not give the planned positive result.
Article author: Mochalov Pavel Alexandrovich | d. m. n. therapist
Education: Moscow Medical Institute. IM Sechenov, specialty - "General Medicine" in 1991, in 1993 "Occupational Diseases", in 1996 "Therapy".
