Preparations for lung cancer

Chemotherapy is recognized as the most effective in lung cancer. It is carried out with the participation of various drugs that help slow or stop the growth of harmful cancer cells. The effects of drugs are different at different stages of the disease, and their individual tolerance also plays a role. Chemotherapy is used even in the treatment of advanced stages of pulmonary cancer, but the drugs used in it are the most dangerous.

Drugs for chemotherapy

Physicians call chemotherapy a systemic treatment, because in it drugs are delivered directly into the bloodstream, flow through the entire affected organism and simultaneously kill cancer cells, both inside and outside the lungs. There are drugs that patients take orally during chemotherapy, while others are injected into the blood intravenously.

Numerous studies and clinical type trials have been devoted to the study of the effectiveness of various drugs for chemotherapy. Some of the drugs can be used alone, others in combination with additional drugs. Certain medications, if necessary, can be used before or immediately after surgery.

The oncologist selects the optimal treatment for the needs of each individual patient. The list of essential drugs used in general chemotherapy includes: Carboplatin, Docetaxel, Cisplatinum, Etoposide, Erlotinib, Irinotecan, Gemcitabine, Pemetrexed, Paclitaxel, Vinorelbine, Topotecan and Gefinitib. The latter drug is considered effective enough for the treatment of pulmonary cancer, but studies have shown that its use does not raise the overall survival rate. Specialists recommend that patients who started taking this drug do not interrupt their treatment drastically, but consult an experienced skilled oncologist.

Bevacizumab is an intravenous drug that prevents the formation of new blood vessels that transmit nutrients to the tumor that promote the growth of harmful cancer cells. Recent studies have shown that the use of this drug in conjunction with some other forms of chemotherapy significantly prolongs the life of a patient with lung cancer. Bevacizumab is fully approved for use at any age, the best result is in combination with paclitaxel and carboplatin.

About what to remember

Most drugs for chemotherapy cause serious side effects. The doctor usually concomitantly prescribes drugs to reduce nausea and vomiting. Complexes of chemotherapy can be applied immediately before the surgery and immediately after it with the goal of destroying the tumor cells. Many medical clinical trials make it possible to study the effectiveness of different combinations of drugs in various stages of cancer. Radiation therapy is sometimes prescribed in combination with medical chemotherapy in the treatment of certain types of tumors.

The newest developments against lung cancer

Efforts of British experts managed to develop a new medicine that can treat any type of lung cancer. This new remedy is, in fact, a combination of two previously known drugs - Vandetanib and Selumetinib. It is this combination of drugs that not only blocks malignant tumors without giving them the opportunity to grow, but is also capable of depriving them of food. So, over time, cancer cells are destroyed on their own.

On assurances of the developers of this drug, it can be successfully used also in the treatment of serious stages of lung cancer, in which other drugs are considered absolutely useless. In the course of the control study, a special group of patients was collected from 40 people with lung cancer at different stages of the disease. And although the research with this combination of drugs started relatively recently, you can definitely say about obtaining excellent results. Experts in the researchers are optimistic, so that patients with severe stages of lung cancer have a real hope.