As one of three avenues used in the treatment of mesothelioma (which is caused by asbestos exposure), combination chemotherapy involves the use of two drugs specifically designed in a laboratory to attack the cancer cells associated with mesothelioma. The other two approaches are surgery and radiation therapy.
Some chemotherapy drugs infiltrate and destroy cancer cells at progressive stages of growth, thus preventing a sustained advance of the tumor itself. Other chemotherapy drugs deliver cancer-cell killing chemicals with greater, or lesser, potency, making them suitable for aggressively targeting rapidly growing tumors, while still allowing oncologists to deliver chemotherapy to individuals whose stamina is already compromised by cancer.
This form of combination chemotherapy is a powerful tool in the oncologist’s arsenal of weapons, providing additional potential advantages like a decreased likelihood of patients developing drug resistance, since the human immune system finds it much harder to respond to two different chemical substances at the same time.
Combination chemotherapy is also a recognized way of improving survival rates, even among mesothelioma sufferers, with the most common combination currently consisting of Alimta and cisplatin. This increase is also accompanied with what patients describe as improved quality of life.
Readers will find the background information on combination chemotherapy enlightening, at least from an historical standpoint, but the actual outlining of chemotherapy agents and their actions in the human body is an even more valuable resource, providing difficult-to-find and necessary information like the course an individual’s chemotherapy treatment would likely take.
From the names of some common drugs, to the usual method of administration – including the amount of time required to complete a single treatment – the site provides exactly the kind of real-world information mesothelioma victims, and their families and loved ones, are desperate to discover. For example, it is much harder to stop vomiting than to prevent it, and many patients receive chemotherapy treatment sitting in a comfortable recliner in a clinic or hospital room.
For patients beginning a chemotherapy session, the site also provides information on some of the peripheral dangers of chemotherapy, including that of developing blood clots, or leaking around the site of the intravenous needle, or even the likelihood of fertility complications in both females and males.
Beyond this new and highly valuable page on combination chemotherapy, the site also offers information on every aspect of mesothelioma, from who is most at risk to typical life spans, as well as the benefit of clinical trials at recognized U.S. cancer care centers and the best way to find and enroll in one.
