In order to use chemotherapy for lung cancer, simply refers to the use of cell killing (CK) medications to destroy or kill cells. The mechanism of chemotherapy is different in comparison to the targeted therapies and immunotherapy. Also, not all the drugs used for lung cancer characterized as chemotherapy.
Chemotherapy may be used, after the surgery in order to treat any possible and remaining cells. And apart from this chemotherapy can be used for metastatic lung cancer to extend the patient's life.
. This therapy is also used before the surgery in case of lung cancer to shrink the actual size of cancerous tissue. Also, it can be used along with immunotherapy to enhance the effect of these drugs.
Since chemotherapy kills all rapidly dividing cells, it can disrupt healthy cells as well. And this may lead a patient towards the common side effects such as bone marrow suppression, nausea, vomiting, and hair loss.
Unlike other treatments such as surgery and radiation therapy (considered as local treatment), chemotherapy is a systemic treatment, which means chemotherapy can kill cancer cells anywhere in the body.
Chemotherapy specifically helpful if cancerous cells may have spread beyond the parts treated by surgery & radiation.
Treatment with chemotherapy may be considered for numerous reasons:
- As an adjunct to surgery: surgery is generally considered at the initial stage of Cancer when the cancerous tissue is confined only to a single place.
- In order to shrink a tumor before surgery: chemotherapy is taken before the surgery to shrink the actual size of a tumor.
- To cure cancer: chemotherapy is one of the best methods of treatment if the answer is confined to a single place or has been metastases at distant places.
- To help with symptoms of cancer: one of the main advantages of using chemotherapy as one of the medications of lung cancer is that it can relieve pain.
- To prolong life in those who are with advanced lung cancer: according to certain research, it has been found that chemotherapy increases the survival rate of approximately 50% of the total patients suffering from lung cancer up to 3 years.
- To make immunotherapy medications work better: sometimes chemotherapy is combined with immunotherapy for effective results.
Chemotherapy can be given in the form of first-line therapy and palliative chemotherapy. The initial treatment with chemotherapy for lung cancer usually involves the use of the couple of or more drugs which is known as combination chemotherapy.
These medications, usually given in cycles of 3 to 4 weeks at least 4 to 6 times.
The main advantage of using combination chemotherapy (combination of drugs), it works many, as well as different phases of cell division, enhances the probability of treating as many cancerous cells as possible.
Chemotherapy is also considered over other therapies as it can kill the cancerous cell all over the body. If the same cancer is metastasis to distant places such as the brain, spinal cord, lymph node, or a spleen then a single dose of chemotherapy can kill all these cancerous tissues.
Lung Cancer Medications
There are various medications, mainly used to treat lung cancer. The most common treatment of NSCLC begins with platinum drug or cisplatin, combined with other medications.
The common medications used in lung cancer are enlisted as:
- Paraplatin (carboplatin)
- Erlotinib (Tarceva)
- Taxotere (docetaxel)
- Gefitinib ( Iressa)
- VePesid or Etopophos (etoposide)
- Ifex (ifosfamide)
- Camptosar (irinotecan)
- Alimta (pemetrexed)j
- Hycamtin (topotecan)
- Adriamycin (doxorubicin)
- Taxol (paclitaxel)
- Gemzar (gemcitabine)
- Oncovir (vinblastine)
In lung cancer treatment, Gefitinib 250 mg and Erlotinib 150 mg has already been shown significant benefits and also have shown to exert antitumor activity including precise effects on cell proliferation, angiogenesis, and apoptosis in a sorts of human cancer cell lines known to express EGFR.
