Uses of antineoplastic chemotherapy
Antineoplastic drugs are used to treat different types of cancers in different situations and stages. How they are being used will determine their effectiveness. Here are some ways they are used:
- Adjuvant chemotherapy: your doctor will administer this chemotherapy after other treatments to shrink the remaining cancer cells.
- Neoadjuvant treatment: these are chemotherapy used to reduce the size of cancer before performing a surgery.
- Induction chemotherapy: these are antineoplastic drugs used to shrink cancer cells before administering radiation therapy.
- Consolidation chemotherapy: these are drugs administered after induction therapy to kill remaining cancer cells.
- Primary therapy: This is when chemotherapy is used as the main treatment for one’s cancer
- Combination therapy: This is when chemotherapy medications are used with one or more other treatments as the primary therapy.
- Maintenance therapy: This refers to certain antineoplastic drugs that are prescribed after other therapies to help prevent cancer relapse or to slow the growth of advanced cancer.
- Palliative therapy: Your doctor will recommend palliative therapy if your cancer is incurable. This treatment will help extend life and increase overall wellness.
The National Cancer Institute has approved the use of antineoplastic drugs as the main treatment for cancers such as leukemia, Hodgkin’s disease, testicular cancer, Wilms’ tumor, small cell lung cancer [7], and localized diffuse large cell lymphoma.