Adjuvant therapy of malignant tumors is a modern way of curing neoplasms using high technologies. Certain drugs and substances are injected into the human body - antineoplastic agents that have an antitumor effect.
Chemotherapeutic drugs have a detrimental effect on rapidly developing cells of malignant tumors. Drugs produce less damaging effect on he althy, multiplying cells of the human body.
Differences from pharmacotherapy
The fundamental difference lies in the fact that in the treatment with therapeutic agents there are two participants in the process - a medicine and a human body that needs to be cured. Adjuvant therapy involves a chemotherapy drug, a tumor carrier organism, and a malignant cell clone to be destroyed, with three sides of the conflict.
The complex relationship of the three components in the treatment process is of great importance. When choosing a method of therapy, the doctor takes into account the condition of the patient's body, age, degree of damage to internal organs obtained for various reasons. The specialist draws attention tobiological characteristics of the tumor, its immune type, cytogenetics and kinetic movement in the area of spread of metastases.
After comparing the examination data, the oncologist decides on the patient's ability to endure the treatment procedure. Adjuvant chemotherapy is given to patients who have the ability to fight the tumor with inoperable methods, or is used as an additional postoperative method.
Objectives of prescribed treatment
Adjuvant therapy as a treatment method completely destroys, kills a cancerous tumor or significantly slows down the process of metastasis of a clone of aggressive cells, while producing a less destructive effect on the human body.
Antineoplastic chemotherapy does not change the pathogenesis of a malignant formation, for example, differentiation of aggressive cells and their transformation back into normal ones does not occur. Conventional therapeutic procedures cure known biochemical changes and correct their course.
The development of the natural mechanism of sanogenesis is also not helped by adjuvant therapy. What does it mean? The body's natural defense system against the development of tumor cells suffers significantly during chemotherapy, and other human immune mechanisms fall into decay. The action is explained by the rapid development of protective cells, which receive a harmful dose to a slightly lesser extent than malignant colonies.
The normal functioning of the body and the improvement of its vitality occur as a secondarymanifestation after the destruction of the tumor or a significant slowdown in its growth, if it had a destructive effect on one of the internal organs of a person.
The impact of chemotherapy on cancer and other diseases
Chemical preparations are used not only to destroy tumors, but also act on various types of infections, such as fungi, viruses, tuberculosis, parasitic infestations, helminths. Adjuvant parasitic therapy chooses the object of destruction: a microbe alien in physiological and biochemical manifestations to the human body, standing on the lowest ladder of evolutionary development.
Getting rid of such invasions is safe for people, since the destruction of the parasite uses the peculiarities of the metabolism of the infectious agent, and the drugs have almost no effect on the cells of the human body. An example is the blocking of the muscle tissue of the worm with anthelmintic drugs: the parasite does not attach to the intestinal wall, but exits with feces. Drugs do not have an active effect on the muscles of the intestine.
In antineoplastic treatment with chemicals, aggressive tumor cells that have managed to elude the body's immune control are selected as the target of exposure. They become cancerous, but are originally the body's own cells.
Difficulties of anticancer therapy
It is fundamentally impossible to affect only malignant cells without affecting rapidly dividing he althy tissuesbody. These include immune cells, skin epithelium, hair, nails. The mucous membrane of the stomach, intestines, lungs, trachea, bronchi, urinary system falls under the harmful effect. In some cases, the dose is toxic, causing complications and side effects that end in death.
Adjuvant therapy leads in terms of harmful effects on the body compared to anthelmintic drugs. What does this mean for a person? The reasons for the high toxicity of tumor chemotherapy do not allow the patient to receive an effective dose of drugs that is theoretically substantiated in his particular case. The number of chemotherapy sessions is questionable in some cases due to complications in the form of unacceptable toxicosis and side effects that end in death.
Given the approaching 100% lethal risk in oncological diseases, due to the lack of an alternative solution to chemical therapy, sessions are currently being carried out with the risk of deteriorating the patient's he alth, aimed at his survival.
What is adjuvant radiation therapy many cancer patients know, but in some cases it is impossible to perform surgery or radiation due to the neglect of the tumor and the appearance of abundantly developed metastases. In such cases, chemotherapy has the final say.
Indications and contraindications for the use of chemotherapy in breast cancer
Adjuvant therapy for breast cancer is the use of antitumordrugs and cytostatics. The patient is prescribed them in the form of a dropper, intravenous injections or tablets. Chemotherapy refers to systemic methods of treatment, since cytostatics, getting inside, stop the growth of cancer cells not only in the affected organ, but throughout the body.
Indication for chemistry is the appearance of malignant tumors in the chest area. The choice of treatment for women depends on many studies. Features of cancer cells that influence the choice of drugs are their stage of development, size and growth rate. For the patient's body, age, the location of the formation and hormonal disorders play a role.
Adjuvant therapy for breast cancer has a number of contraindications:
- for hormone-dependent cancers in postmenopausal women;
- in young girls with hormone-dependent forms of tumors, if there is a low level of progesterone and estrogen.
Conducting a course of treatment with chemicals
The course of treatment with drugs plays a huge role in the process of getting rid of the tumor. Depending on the complexity, a surgical operation or radiation is prescribed. Adjuvant therapy is carried out in cycles. What it is? A cycle is the duration of drug use. The number of cycles is determined by the state of the body and other factors. The standard course contains 4 to 7 repetitions.
After surgical removal of the tumor, prophylactic treatment with chemicaldrugs to prevent the recurrence of a malignant tumor and to prevent relapse. It is difficult to overestimate the importance of antitumor therapy - its effectiveness is noted before and after surgery.
What does a breast chemotherapy regimen look like? As a result of the treatment, all types of cancer cells in the chest area are destroyed. The effect of multiple drugs should increase, but the level of exposure is such that a person can tolerate it without the threat of a significant undermining of he alth. In addition, after examining the biological characteristics of the neoplasm, the doctor prescribes drugs that aggressive cells do not get used to.
Alkaliruyuschie drugs are included in the list of drugs that promote recovery. By their effect on the body, they resemble radiation. The drugs destroy the proteins that control genes in cancer cells. A common chemical from this series is Cyclophosphamide.
Antimetabolites are introduced into the genetic system of an aggressive cell. Their destructive action begins in the process of cell division, which leads to its death. Representatives are gemser and 5-fluorouracil. This is how adjuvant therapy is used. In case of pain syndrome, painkillers "Seduxen", "Carbamazepine", "Phenytoin" are prescribed.
Antibiotics for the treatment of malignant tumors are nothing like standard therapeutic drugs. Their action is based on a complete slowdown in cell reproduction. "Adriamycin" in combination with "Cytoxan" givepositive effect.
Melanoma Adjuvant Therapy
Melanoma is a common cancer that has a visible effect on the skin. Metastases from melanoma are detected using X-ray MRI, PET, ultrasound and are detected by photoacoustics. Various means of chemical therapy, immunotherapy are used for treatment, interferon is used, various centers treat with local perfusions.
Melanoma is difficult to treat, scientists are constantly working on the creation of new drugs. Promising research results appear from time to time in the pharmaceutical industry. Sometimes they show success in treatment, but it is limited. One of these newest medicines is IL-2. With its help, a long and stable remission is achieved, a rare occurrence of relapses is noted.
Another effective radical remedy is OncoVEX GM-CSF, a drug of modern experimental treatments. This drug is in the third phase of clinical trials.
Rectal cancer treatment
In recent years, research in the field of treatment of rectal cancer pleases with effective discoveries. The number of failures in the use of surgery to remove a tumor in stages 2 and 3 leads to the fact that adjuvant therapy for colon cancer is increasingly being used. Studies show the effectiveness of combining radiotherapy with the chemical 5-fluorouracil.
Use in doctor's practiceaccurate methods for detecting a tumor and studying its nature, allows for preoperative therapy without initial irradiation, when a formation is detected at the first stage of the disease. The possibility of chemical treatment has greatly increased the incidence of postoperative sphincter retention and reduced complications.
To reduce recurrence rates and increase non-fatal cures, pre- and postoperative chemical therapy is being developed. In the treatment of mid-stage lower rectal adenocarcinoma, a standard irradiation regimen is used in combination with 5-fluorouracil.
Post-operative therapy is more effective after the use of a sonographic method, which allows you to identify staging errors. The recurrence rate with the use of postoperative therapy is reduced to 20-50% after surgery. The amount of damage to he alth is determined depending on the specific stage of the tumor.
Drug therapy for sinusitis
Mild stages of the disease are treated without the use of antibiotics - adjuvant therapy is used in the treatment of sinusitis. Relief of the condition occurs after the systematic use of topical drugs and physiotherapy. The effect of treatment is determined by vasoconstrictor drugs, antiseptics, medicines to increase immunity.
Vasoconstrictor drugs have different mechanisms of action to eliminate the symptoms of sinusitis, but all medications lead to effective treatmentdiseases. Aerosol preparations have the best therapeutic effect, since the drug is distributed faster on the mucous membrane. Sinusitis with purulent manifestation is treated with antiseptic drops, but this is rather an adjunct to the main treatment.
In severe and complicated course of the disease requires the use of antibiotics in tablets. A complication of the acute period is treated by injection.
Adjuvant treatments for uterine fibroids
This type of education is most often a benign neoplasm of the internal genital organs of a woman. Some patients are unaware of the appearance of fibroids, as they do not undergo examination in a timely manner, and the disease is asymptomatic.
Uterine bleeding is a common symptom that causes a patient to see a doctor. Pain is observed in every fourth patient, the tumor grows rapidly in the reproductive period in 60% of patients, before menopause - in 44% of women.
Adjuvant therapy for fibroids is used to treat benign manifestations. This is a difficult task and the positive effect largely depends on the experience, educational background and technical conditions of the doctor. The possibilities of conservative treatment are used to the maximum, but it is equally important to make a decision on the surgical removal of fibroids in time.
The first method of drug therapy is to reduce the formation of ovarian hormones to the limit level, thus reducing the level of local uterine hormones. The second method is to create a blockade of abnormal growth zones. For thissmall doses of progestins are administered, which reduce hormones in the bloodstream and reduce the sensitivity of the tumor tissue to the action of estrogens.
In modern medicine, gestagens, antiestrogens, antigonadotropins, antigestagens are used to treat fibroids. Therapy is carried out with hormonal and non-hormonal drugs. Conservative treatment includes anti-stress, immunocorrective, nootropic drugs, vitamins, antioxidants.
Means for the treatment of periodontitis
Periodontitis occurs in some cases as a transient inflammatory process in rhinitis, osteomyelitis, sinusitis or otitis media. This disease is manifested by inflammation of the root of the tooth and adjacent hard tissues. Sometimes it is caused by pulpitis of the tooth, gum injury. In addition to traditional mechanical treatment, adjuvant therapy of periodontitis is used.
The cause is diabetes mellitus, improper replenishment of the body with vitamins and minerals, an allergic response to the use of certain medications. Untimely sanitation also leads to disease; adjuvant therapy of periodontitis is used for treatment. What does it mean? The method is based on a thorough antiseptic treatment of the tooth canal and the appointment of calcium preparations inside. This method is considered effective if there is a possibility of a long wait for the result. In other cases, there is a danger of an exacerbation of the disease.
In conclusion, it should be noted that the use of adjuvant therapy in the treatment of cancer plays an important role. Therapy facilitates preparatorystage of the operation, and after removal of the malignant formation reduces the possibility of recurrence and reappearance of the tumor.
