2024-08-08 03:41:50
How does preventive chemotherapy work and how does it work?
Chemotherapy – or chemo for short – is one of the main pillars of cancer therapy alongside radiotherapy and surgery. It can be used at different times during tumor treatment.
There are different types of chemotherapy: Firstly, preventive (adjuvant) therapy with the aim of preventing the disease from recurring or the development of tumor metastases after an operation. “Adjuvant” stands for supplementary or supportive treatment measures in cancer therapy. For example, the tumor cells that could not be removed during surgery are additionally attacked. Adjuvant chemotherapy is often used for colon cancer, for example.
Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is administered before surgery and prepares the patient for further treatment. It can shrink the tumor and thus make surgery easier or even possible. In advanced cancer, palliative chemotherapy can be administered. Its aim is complete tumor regression and thus longer survival with a good quality of life for the patient.
Which chemotherapy is used depends on the tumor and the stage of the cancer.
Patients receive certain medications, so-called cytostatics, which prevent tumor cells from dividing and multiplying. These are usually administered intravenously. This means that they receive an infusion solution containing the active ingredient dissolved in it through a vein. Some cytostatics are also available as tablets.
In most cases, the active ingredients are distributed throughout the body via the bloodstream; in medicine, this is called “systemic therapy”. In this way, even cancer cells that are no longer located directly at the tumor’s original site are reached. Such cells would remain undetected and therefore untreated during targeted radiation or surgery.
However, cytostatics also act against healthy cells: fast-growing tissues such as skin, hair, mucous membranes and the blood-forming cells in the bone marrow are particularly affected. This explains the sometimes severe side effects, including:
The severity of the side effects of chemotherapy varies. Some people tolerate cytostatics better than others. Most side effects can be treated well these days and often disappear once treatment is over.
Whether chemotherapy is successful – that is, whether no tumor cells can be detected after treatment – depends on many factors. General statements cannot be made reliably.