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Methods of chemotherapy in breast cancer
Methods of chemotherapy in breast cancer
Chemotherapy for breast cancerrelates to methods of adjuvant therapy, that is, a treatment that is aimed at preventing recurrence and metastasis of tumors.
Chemotherapy can be administered orally (ie by mouth) in the form of tablets, capsules or in liquid form or intravenously. In some diseases, chemotherapy is placed directly part of the tumor (eg, in the space of spinal tumors of the nervous system).
The easiest method of administration of chemotherapy - in the form of oral tablets, which makes it possible to take them home without the assistance of medical personnel. However, this method does not provide the exact same dose of the drug intake. The most common way is an intravenous chemotherapy into a vein or by injection, or more often with the help of drip (intravenous infusion). Usually, this chemotherapy is carried out in a hospital outpatient or inpatient. Each dose of medication is administered over a period of one to several days at intervals of 1 - 4 weeks (depending upon chemotherapy regimen) for the total number of courses from 4 to 8.
In some cases, these long-term intravenous administration of a special device - the port. It is usually installed under the skin. The port allows intravenous drug without a permanent piercing a vein. In addition, drugs administered intravenously, are different, some of them are introduced quickly, others - slowly.
Currently being tested a new method of chemotherapy, as hyperthermia. Hyperthermia - is the application of high temperature treatment. It allows you to reduce the size of the tumor. The method consists in the fact that directly into the tumor through a thin plastic catheter is introduced high-dose chemotherapy in the shell, after which the breast is placed in a container of warm hot water.
Chemotherapy may be in the medical center, inpatient or outpatient basis, and sometimes at home. In most cases the patient may be at home between cycles, but some patients have to remain under medical supervision in hospital. In some cases, chemotherapy is injected through the port using a special pump that is installed under the skin. At the same patient enough to come once to the doctor to set the port and the pump with the drug, and at the end of chemotherapy in order to remove the pump and the port.
In discussing the various options of chemotherapy with your physician you may encounter a series of encrypted regimens: AC, AC then T, CEF, CMF, CAF, FAC, TAC, CVAP, etc. This may confuse the patient. Moreover, each scheme of chemotherapy or other characteristic of those side effects. The first thing that comes to everyone at the mention of chemotherapy - it is many months of pricks, nausea, fatigue, fear of infection and loss of hair.
Just say that you should not think that you will be assigned to a huge list of chemotherapy. Based on the characteristics of cancer in your particular case, the doctor prescribe the most appropriate medication for you. This may be a drug or, more likely, a combination of both. All of these treatment regimens tested in numerous studies on thousands of patients.
In most cases, except for the hair loss, now physicians can cope with the many side effects of chemotherapy. Note that the age of the patient is not a contraindication for the kind of chemotherapy. The effectiveness of this treatment is the same as in younger patients. At the same severity of side effects in older women did not prevail over those of the young.
Planning chemotherapy
In the chemotherapy of breast cancer involves a combination of different mechanism of antitumor action and intensity methods. The doctor takes into account all the factors. The most important among them are the size of the tumor, presence of metastases in regional lymph nodes, tumor type and differentiation.
Even in such a highly developed country like the U.S., where breast cancer is most often diagnosed in the early stages of newly diagnosed patients in 40% of cases are detected metastases in regional lymph nodes. The frequency of metastatic cancer is proportional to the size of the tumor. When the tumor size of less than 1 cm in the probability of detecting lymph node metastases is 18-21%. If the tumor size exceeds 5 cm, the probability of detection of metastases are approaching 60%. All other things being equal, it is assumed that the absence of metastases provides a ten-year survival of 70% of women with lesions of 1 - 3 lymph nodes is reduced to 50%, and 10 or more - falls below 20%. The least favorable prognosis has intraduct invasive cancer (ductal carcinoma).
Physical exercise helps chemotherapy easier to move
Side effects of chemotherapy may discourage a woman to start and adhere strictly to the treatment. The findings, below, show that aerobic exercise or physical activity contribute to a better state of health of patients during chemotherapy.
Research has shown that such activity as the patients improved physical condition and emotional. So if you are undergoing chemotherapy, try to make exercise and healthy diet part of your normal life. They should become an integral and important part of treatment.
Check with your doctor about how much physical activity, and what kinds of exercise you are allowed.
