Conditions That Can Benefit from Salvage Therapy
The term salvage therapy is mostly used to discuss a final line of defense against many severe and progressive conditions, primarily HIV and cancer. Examples of diseases that may involve salvage therapy include end-stage renal disease (ESRD) [1] when the patient is no longer responding to dialysis.
For HIV
HIV [2] is a major illness that requires salvage therapy. Its first-line treatment is antiretroviral medication. In some cases, the virus will come despite the use of antiretrovirals.
If HIV symptoms persist after antiretrovirals use and the virus persists, salvage therapy is used. The goal of salvage therapy is to stop the spread of the resistant form of the virus.
For cancer
The first-line treatment for most types of cancer [3] is chemotherapy [4]. Your doctor will prescribe chemotherapy medications for your type of cancer. When standard chemotherapy isn’t working, salvage therapy can be used.
Salvage therapy for cancer usually includes chemotherapy which is made up of different drugs that the initial rounds. The drugs used will depend on your special situation.
It may also include experimental medications that are still undergoing clinical trials. Your doctor might try treatments that are not part of standard cancer regimens or might direct you to clinical trials that might help.