Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy

What does Neo Adjacent Chemotherapy Mean?

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is a type of chemotherapy prescribed to patients in order to shrink a cancer prior to surgery. Chemotherapy is actually a term which covers a wide variety of chemical treatments used to curb the spread of rapidly dividing cells in the body. Several medical terms referring to courses of chemotherapy treatment are often confused. Adjuvant, neoadjuvant, and induction are chemo therapies which perform different functions related to
destroying cancer cells or preventing a recurrence of cancer. Some of the side effects of neoadjuvant chemotherapy include nausea, vomiting, hair loss, fatigue, mouth sores, infection, anemia, and an increased chance of bleeding.Researchers are currently looking into ways to lessen these effects by regulating dose density and the frequency of the therapy treatments. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy has proven to be the most effective in treating breast, colorectal,
and lung cancers. In fact, this type of chemotherapy is standard in treating inflammatory breast cancer since the shrinking of the tumor not only saves more healthy tissue, but also provides a better chance for a cosmetically acceptable outcome.

Adjuvant chemotherapy is given to kill ‘left-over’ or microscopic cells that may linger after a known tumor is removed by surgery lowering the chance of recurrence. Induction chemotherapy is giving to induce a remission and is usually part of a treatment for acute leukemia.

What’s the procedure

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is given prior to the surgical procedure to remove a cancerous growth in order to shrink it. This type of therapy ensures the actual surgery will not need to be as extensive or invasive. It can also make the condition of the area around a tumor clearer because as a cancer grows the tissue surrounding the growth might show signs of inflammation. As neoadjuvant chemotherapy shrinks the cancerous growth down it’s easier for doctors to make a distinction between the cancerous and healthy tissue. This reduces the amount of healthy tissue removed during the actual surgical procedure.

Some of the side effects of neoadjuvant chemotherapy include nausea, vomiting, hair loss, fatigue, mouth sores, infection, anemia, and an increased chance of bleeding. Researchers are currently looking into ways to lessen these effects by regulating dose density and the frequency of the therapy treatments. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy has proven to be the most effective in treating breast, colorectal, and lung cancers. In fact, this type of chemotherapy is
standard in treating inflammatory breast cancer since the shrinking of the tumor not only saves more healthy tissue, but also provides a better chance for a cosmetically acceptable outcome.

Does this suit patients?

Some patients might not be suited for this type of therapy, especially if the side effects would render them unfit for surgery later. For many other cancer patients neoadjuvant chemotherapy provides a faster recover time and better mobility after surgery.

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy has proven to be the most effective in treating breast, colorectal, and lung cancers. In fact, this type of chemotherapy is standard in treating inflammatory breast cancer since the shrinking of the tumor not only saves more healthy tissue, but also provides a better chance for a cosmetically acceptable outcome.