What Is Adjuvant Chemotherapy
By: MarkLuisTotal Views: 239, Word Count: 494,
Adjuvant chemotherapy is treatment to kill left over cancerous cells that might be present after surgical treatment. Adjuvant chemotherapy prevents possible cancer reoccurrence. Adjuvant chemotherapy is helpful in changing behavior of cancers such as breast cancer, ovarian cancer, colon cancer, testicular cancer and many others.
To understand the problem of cancer and also adjuvant chemotherapy, one should first realize that cancerous cells are small, tiny and microscopic. Over one millimeter area, approximately one million cancer cells reside. It is important to focus on small size of cancer cell when you are looking adjuvant chemotherapy.
Patients are undergone various tests after surgery. When the tests results are negative, it is assumed that there are no cancer cells present. However, the fact is that there are no cancerous cells which are detectable. Since cancerous are very small, there is possibility that many cells are hiding out of view.
Some people are at the risk of hiding cancerous cells which are not detected by tests. There is a tiny deposit of cancerous cells which is waiting to hit back a person with cancer. Adjuvant chemotherapy is quite helpful for these people to stop or delay reoccurrence cancer. Adjuvant chemotherapy is useful for any type of cancer.
Adjuvant chemotherapy is use of drugs (chemicals) to remove left over cancerous cell after surgical treatment of cancer. Adjuvant chemotherapy is started soon after surgery. It helps to reduce chances of reoccurrence of cancer. Even though there are no signs that cancer is spread, adjuvant chemotherapy is still introduced to prevent the chances of reoccurrence by eradicating the cells that might spread.
Before starting adjuvant chemotherapy, all the necessary tests to detect cancer have been done. Results of the tests should be normal. Normal results of the test mean that there are no detectable cancerous cells. However, there may be cancerous cells present in patient’s body and that need to be addressed.
Once patient starts seeking adjuvant chemotherapy, one can not tell whether this treatment is working or not. Certain tests have to be done on regular basis to check the situation. These tests include blood tests, X ray. These checks during tests help to determine the effectiveness of treatment.
Adjuvant chemotherapy treatment is given over a period of months in cycles. Each period is followed by a recovery period and then treatment continues again. There are different types methods by which drug can be administered which include orally, injection, intravenously. Sometimes, more than one drug is used for adjuvant chemotherapy treatment.
It has been that adjuvant chemotherapy has decreased the chances of reoccurrence of cancer such as breast cancer and colorectal cancer. With adjuvant chemotherapy, patients can have longer life than those do not receive this treatment. However, benefits of adjuvant chemotherapy treatment vary from patient to patient. Older patients (age more than 70) have more risk of reactions to adjuvant chemotherapy. Though there are some side effects associated with adjuvant chemotherapy, the benefits of treatment outweigh the risks.
About the Author
Mark Luis is a medical writer specializing in cancer and chemotherapy. He runs few cancer and chemotherapy relates sites like and cancer symptoms.
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