Mesothelioma Treatment

Archive for the ‘Chemotherapy’ Category

Description of chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to kill cancer cells. It differs from other cancer treatments in that it is systemic, circulates throughout the body while killing cancer cells and those originals that may have spread to other sites (metastasis). Chemotherapy kills cells that reproduce, but can not differentiate between normal and cancer cells. Side effects occur when normal cells are damaged.

Goals of chemotherapy
The main purpose of chemotherapy is to successfully treat cancer and prevent recurrence (return). If you can not completely remove the cancer with chemotherapy, the priority is to control the disease and prevent its spread. If the cancer is advanced, chemotherapy is not effective to control its spread, this treatment can still be useful to shrink the tumor and relieve symptoms of cancer, an approach called palliative care or palliation.

In addition, chemotherapy can be administered as neoadjuvant treatment, which means that is used to shrink a larger tumor before surgery or radiotherapy. Often, chemotherapy is used as adjunctive therapy to destroy cancer cells remaining after surgery or radiation.

How is chemotherapy the patient
Chemotherapy is given in different ways. Drugs can be swallowed, injected into a vein, applied to the skin or infused into a specific area of ??the body. The method of administration of chemotherapy depends on the type of cancer patient’s physical location and properties of the drug.

A patient may receive chemotherapy on an outpatient basis or internship in a doctor’s office, at home or working place, depending on how drugs are administered.

How to use chemotherapy to treat cancer
There are over 100 medicines to treat cancer. Often, oncologists (doctors who specialize in the care and treatment of people with cancer) drugs combined more effectively treat a cancer patient.

The choice of treatment for cancer depends on many factors, including the characteristics of the disease, including type and stage (describes the size and location of the tumor and whether it has spread), as well as the health general patient age, presence of other diseases and previous treatments for cancer.

Chemotherapy is given in cycles of drugs and recovery to allow the cure of cancer cells. Chemotherapy cycles. Recently, researchers studied the effect of more frequent administration of drugs with less recovery time, in what is known as a program with dose-dense. This program seems to have some benefit over standard treatment program, but the differences were not radicals. Patients may consider discussing this program with their physicians.

Chemotherapy as a systemic treatment

In general, chemotherapy is the term used to describe other systemic therapies that focus on the properties of cancer cells in addition to the sprawl. These newer therapies tend to have fewer side effects and usually used in combination with conventional chemotherapy.

There are four main types of systemic therapies other than conventional chemotherapy:

Hormone therapy: hormones or hormone-like drugs inhibit the effect of the body’s natural hormones. This therapy can control or reverse the growth of breast, prostate and uterine cancer. Examples include anti-estrogen tamoxifen (Nolvadex), the aromatase inhibitors such as letrozole (Femara), anastrozole (Arimidex), exemestane (Aromasin), megestrol acetate (Megace) and the antiandrogen flutamide (Drogenil) .

Targeted therapy: cancer researchers have developed new drugs that specifically recognize the unique characteristics of cancer cells, such as proteins that support the growth and spread of cancer cells. Examples include imatinib (Gleevec), trastuzumab (Herceptin), rituximab (Rituxan), erlotinib (Tarceva), bevacizumab (Avastin), cetuximab (Erbitux) and sorafenib (Nexavar). Learn more about what treatments are directed .

Immunotherapy: Immunotherapy (also known as biologic therapy) stimulates or mimics the immune system to fight cancer. The currently available immunotherapies include interferon, a protein that helps strengthen the immune system, interleukin-2 (IL-2) (aldesleukin [Proleukin]) and cancer vaccines, which aim to stimulate the body’s own defenses to destroy cancer cells. Learn more about immunotherapy .

Antiangiogenic agents: instead of directly attacking cancer cells, antiangiogenic agents prevent new blood vessels provide nutrients to cancer cells, essentially to “starve” the tumor. Bevacizumab (Avastin) is an example of this type of treatment and is currently used to treat advanced colorectal cancer. In clinical studies, similar drugs are being evaluated (studies designed to evaluate whether a new development is safe, effective and better than the current standards of care). Learn more about angiogenesis and angiogenesis inhibitors for cancer treatment (in English).

To fight against cancer, there are various forms of treatment, which sometimes get cured, as in the case of some lymphomas, leukemia’s and childhood cancers, testicular tumors, and so on. In other cases, they will get to stop its evolution, slow or at least prolong survival but may also more chronic disease … cancer does not always mean death.

Everyone knows that surgery is one of the weapons of the therapeutic arsenal against many diseases and solving in general, for Cancer. Sometimes it complements this first treatment with radiation therapy if not totally free of disease was the operative bed, or if found lymphadenopathy (lymph) metastases, ie, affected or infiltrated by the tumor.

There is also hormone therapy or hormone therapy for some patients whose tumors are cells sensitive to hormones, male or female, to hormonal suppression of the patient himself or to give an anti-hormone, in the case of prostate tumors (antiandrogens) or Breast (antiestrogen).

The third option is chemotherapy. (QT), an issue which I will elaborate below. It consists of administering a drug alone or in combination with others (usually no more than three), intravenously, to destroy tumor cells. Usually given intravenously, but there are other routes: oral, intratumoral, intrathecal, intraarterial, etc). I’ll leave for another time, hormone treatments, radiotherapy, hyperthermia, RF, monoclonal antibody (mAb), etc.

Chemotherapy is used when the cancer has spread to other parts of the body or also to prevent recurrence of the disease after the first treatment. In the first case, it would be kind Healing, if the curable or palliative for symptoms, depending on the type of tumor and the second would be complementary or adjuvant, which is the most widely used mode. Another method, more and more widespread, the Neo-adjuvant or induction of response, that is, shrink the tumor with 2-3 cycles and improve the surgical option.

Underlying the action of these drugs on a characteristic of tumor cells, which is growing fast, faster than the body itself, are (except brain), in continuous process of growth, such as skin, hair, nails, mucous membranes, blood cells, gastrointestinal, genital, and so on. For this reason, though less also be affected cells in the tissues listed as a side effect or toxicity of chemotherapy.

Toxic or side effects are sometimes annoying, sometimes requiring hospitalization, parenteral nutrition (intravenous) or enteral (nasogastric tube) and others may be very serious and possibly compromise the patient’s life, although this is rare.

Phenomena do not always occur toxicity and are not equal in all patients, dependent on drugs or schemes employed, the dosage and sensitivity of each patient. These phenomena appear, at about 12-14 days of administration of the QT. Others, such as Ovarian germinal epithelial atrophy (producing eggs) or Testicular (producing sperm) and produce sterility, appear late.

There are different types and chemotherapy regimens, depending on the tumor, its growth rate, its sensitivity, and so on. But all are administered in cycles. Therefore it is called “cycle of chemotherapy,” which are usually every 21 or 28 days, others are every 15 days and another week. These drugs or combinations, and tested initially in animals, after years of research are used in human clinical practice, with a known and manageable toxicity and by doctors. But it must be said that has nothing to do with the degree of toxicity with the result we want. Sometimes a highly toxic, get a great effect and sometimes not effective. Others, with minimal toxicity get a great benefit.

Response is known for QT, the fact shrink after the QT, tumors known and previously measured by palpation, or measurable with a ruler on the body or radiographic imaging or CT. This response to the QT, which can be partial answer, if there is a decrease of 50% or more of measurable size, or total, with the disappearance of the tumor mass known and visible.

How do you prevent the toxicity of the QT
The Oncologist experiment, with the toxicity in all organs and therefore, after administering a “QT cycle”, or even before, take action, warns and advises the patient, his family and the nursing staff of Possible symptoms may come and leave written a series of measures for immediate implementation, in case of acute and delayed others for. The QT is given in “Hospital Day”, on an outpatient basis and sometimes, depending on the type of combination or technique of administration, the patient will be for it.

Side effects or toxicity of the QT (Summary)

Bone marrow (where blood cells originate)
• Anemia: decreased red blood cells that carry oxygen, with
what appears fatigue, shortness of breath (dyspnea) … etc
• Thrombocytopenia: decreased platelets involved in blood clotting (bleeding or bruising)
• neutropenia or leukopenia, decreased neutrophils or leukocytes, which are the “defense” against infection. Febrile Neutropenia

Digestive:
• Nausea and Vomiting
• Diarrhea or constipation
• Inflammation of the gastrointestinal mucosa (which begins in the mouth: Mucositis)
• Changes in taste (dysgeusia)

Skin, Nails and Hair:
• Hair Loss (Alopecia).
• Bands or dark pigmentation of the nails, thickening or fall
• Dry, flaking, itching and redness of the skin. Earthy colors.

General condition:
• Weakness, tiredness, loss of appetite and disturbed emotional state
or skin allergy • General (Adriamycin, Taxanes etc)

Neurological Disorders:
• Peripheral neuropathy: tingling, numbness, cramps in hands and feet. (Vince, cisplatin, taxanes)
• Pain in limbs.
• Drowsiness, Coma reversible (which produces the high-dose ifosfamide)
• Ototoxicity with hearing loss (Cisplatin)

Lung and Kidney:
• Pulmonary toxicity (pulmonary fibrosis) bleomycin and taxanes.
• Renal insufficiency (Cisplatin, Methotrexate)

Cardiac
• Decreased contractility and heart failure Anthracyclines
• Crisis of Angor (chest pain) with 5-Fluorouracil

Alterations in Sexuality and Fertility
• Early menopause, genital mucosal dryness and decreased sexual desire for Depression (this, in both sexes)
• germinal epithelial atrophy of the sex glands (ovaries and testes), resulting in sterility. (No Impotence)

In general, the patient will be warned and their physician for any event, as a result of treatment. It takes measures to prevent nausea and vomiting, immediately before the infusion of QT. It also monitors the numbers of hemoglobin, if you need iron supplements or transfusions of packed red cells, or will be treated with subcutaneous erythropoietin to prevent the symptoms of anemia.

Administer drugs stimulating leukocytes (G-CSF) to prevent the biggest and most serious consequences of the QT: febrile neutropenia, lowering of defenses (leukocytes and neutrophils), which often also cause mucositis, infections Fungal (Mycoses), Bacterial, diarrhea, etc.. This situation, a few days after administration of a cycle of chemotherapy should be considered as an Emergency Hospital. That is, the patient must go immediately to your doctor or the emergency room for blood test if there has been fall in leukocytes, neutrophils or platelets and test the other parameters of urgency. Are frequent hospital admissions for this cause.

Often the use of corticosteroids (cortisone in general) to reduce allergic reactions, or enhance drug antiemetic (prevents vomiting), etc.

Fortunately, despite having listed almost all the complications or side effects are rare these situations and should not frighten the patient. Must know what to do and prevent complications.

While we have always warned patients, which is intended to for treatment, which can only be administered if the patient agrees, now, by law, are required to sign an Informed Consent (IC), document to be included among all the hospital records or in separate physical file (paper or computer), if it is computerized health records on computers for consultations.

Diet chemotherapy. This medical treatment is aimed at eliminating cancer cells, but has the problem that destroys healthy cells as the hair, mouth, stomach or intestine among others, can lead to eating problems.

The most common symptoms of the chemotherapy are anorexia, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, swelling of the lining of the mouth and esophagus and asthenia. It is important to follow a diet with foods that provide energy and protein to reconstitute the body and strengthen the defense system.

To prevent these side effects , you should eat one to three hours before the session of chemotherapy, following a diet low in fat, easily digested during treatment days and two or three days. Recommended low-volume foods warm, spread over frequent feedings.

Are the foods low in fat such as skim milk, white meat and fish , always steamed and grilled. Do not drink during meals and fluids taken, after two hours after vomiting.

Fresh fruit juices, puddings, gelatins, soufflés vegetables, purees or tortillas are recipes easy that can help improve the situation, always avoiding tastes sour, salty or spicy . should not be drinking coffee, alcohol, citrus fruits, tomatoes , sausages and strong cheeses, are appropriate at this stage baby food for children.

If you are about to receive chemotherapy for cancer, you probably have some questions and concerns. This guide will try to answer some questions you may have.

It is important to understand that chemotherapy drugs are useful because they prevent cancer cells from reproducing. Unfortunately, these powerful drugs can produce the same effect on normal cells, especially rapidly growing normal cells. Among these are the cells of the gastrointestinal tract (mouth, stomach and intestines) and cells involved in hair growth.

Nausea and vomiting

Nausea and vomiting are the main concerns for many patients who are about to start chemotherapy. In fact, not all cancer drugs cause serious nausea and vomiting. Your doctor can tell you if it is likely that cancer drugs you are taking that cause these problems. Also, people react differently to the same drug. Maybe a drug that makes a person feel bad for one or two days do not cause problems to someone else. Keep an open mind before starting treatment.

Here are some recommendations to reduce or prevent nausea and vomiting during chemotherapy:

Do not eat a big meal the day of chemotherapy.
Eat a light meal. This will help reduce nausea.
Do not eat your favorite foods the day of chemotherapy. If you get to feeling bad, you’ll end up hating the food for a long time.

Ask your doctor about medicines that prevent or reduce nausea and vomiting. Different drugs of this type, so if one fails, ask your doctor if another would work better.
If nausea and vomiting become problematic for you, remember these important points: Read the rest of this entry »

Chemotherapy, which involves using chemicals to destroy cancer cells, is a major therapeutic technologies used to fight cancer. Chemotherapy is one of the three most important methods used to treat cancer, works by interfering with the ability of the cancer cell to grow. They are also used radiation and surgery, which can be combined with chemotherapy. The high efficacy of chemotherapy is a result of its ability to treat cancer spread (metastatic), the one that comes in more than one body site. This capability makes the chemotherapy is very important in a patient’s struggle to overcome cancer, since radiotherapy and surgery are only suitable for treating cancer in localized areas. When using these three treatments combined, their complementary routes to attack the disease often offer the patient a better chance of beating cancer. There are many different types of drugs that qualify as chemotherapeutic agents. The drug chosen depends on what type of cancer will be treated. Medications are classified into five major categories based on the way alter cell chemistry and what cycle stage of the affected cells.

To understand the chemotherapy, you must first understand what the cell cycle. Chemotherapy is effective because the drugs used affect certain stage of the life cycle of cells. To replicate, each cell goes through a cycle of four stages. The first, called G1, occurs when the cell prepares to replicate their chromosomes. The second is called S, it occurs in DNA synthesis and this is doubled. The next stage is G2, when duplicating RNA and protein. The final stage is the M phase, the actual cell division. In the latter, DNA and RNA duplicates divide and move to separate ends of the cell. In fact, it is divided into two identical functional cells.

Depending on the chosen medication, chemotherapy affects the malignant cells in one of three ways:
- by damaging the DNA of cancer cells so that they can no longer reproduce. This occurs by altering the structure of DNA in the cell nucleus, thereby preventing replication. Read the rest of this entry »

Chemotherapy can be given in several ways:

Oral (by mouth in pill form)
Intravenous (IV, through a vein as a short infusion or continuously for one or more days)
As an injection or needle
Directly into a body cavity (ie, bladder, abdominal cavity)
Intra-arterial (in special cases, such as treatment of limb perfusion for melanoma)
Doctors often combine specific and non-specific chemotherapies so as to complement and work together. This combination of different medications is called a “regime”. These regimes are often given names based on the first letter of the medications used in them. For example, CHOP, a common regime for lymphoma, consisting of Cytoxan (cyclophosphamide), adriamycin (hydroxydoxorubicin ), Oncovin (vincristine) and prednisone. This combination is given in “cycles” (blocks of time). For example, a cycle may be 21 days, and in the case of poplar, cytoxan, adriamycin and oncovin given on day 1, prednisone on days 1-5, followed by 16 days off (without treatment) and then begins again with the next cycle.

Chemotherapy is called a “systemic” therapy, meaning it travels through the body, unlike surgery or radiation therapy who are “local”. Doctors also use terms to describe when the chemotherapy is given in the sequence of treatments: Read the rest of this entry »

“Chemotherapy” is the name given to the drugs responsible for destroying cells that actively divide and reproduce. Unlike healthy cells, cancer cells reproduce continuously because they do not respond to common signals that control cell growth. Chemotherapy works by disrupting rapidly dividing cancer cells and destroying them. Unlike radiation, which destroys cancer cells in a tumor in a specific place in the body, chemotherapy works to treat cancer throughout the body.

If your child is diagnosed with cancer, doctors are likely to develop a treatment plan customized to your child’s age, cancer type and location. A pediatric oncologist (a doctor who specializes in treating cancer in children) will work with other health professionals to determine the most appropriate chemotherapy regimen for their child.

How is chemotherapy
Like other drugs can be taken in different ways, there are several ways to administer chemotherapy. In most cases, is given intravenously, ie into a vein. This method of administration is also called “IV”. To this end, a tiny tube inserted into a vein through the skin. In general, the treatment is performed in the arm. The tube is connected to a bag containing the drug. The medicine flows from the bag into the vein and enters the bloodstream. Once the drug is in the blood can travel through the body and attack cancer cells. Read the rest of this entry »

Chemotherapy involves using anticancer drugs that prevent cancer cells from multiplying. In most cases, combinations of drugs used to increase efficiency. Chemotherapy may be used aggressively to retract the tumor or palliative to relieve symptoms such as breathlessness or pain.

The administration of chemotherapy may be by intravenous or intramuscular, oral medication or sometimes, may be administered directly into the pleural or peritoneal cavity. Some of the drugs used most frequently include:

* Pemetrexed (Alimta)
* Cisplatin (Platinol)
* Carboplatin (Paraplatin)

* Gemcitabine (Gemzar)* Doxorubicin (Adriamycin)
* Mitomycin
* Raltitrexed (Tomudex)
* Vinorelbine (Navelbine)

Pharmaceutical companies are constantly researching new drugs, so you can always ask your doctor about the most promising new drugs. One such drug, Alimta (pemetrexed), was approved in Europe in September 2005.

Radiotherapy

Radiotherapy involves using high energy X-rays to kill cancer cells and tumors retract. Can be used aggressively with surgery to help eliminate microscopic metastases can cause disease recurrence or palliation for pain caused by tumors that press on nerve endings or other organ. Radiation therapy has proven effective in preventing the spread of tumor in areas of biopsies or chest tube drainage.