Saturday, September 12, 2015

Ovarian Cancer Treatment: Chemotherapy

For the majority of  women diagnosed with ovarian cancer chemotherapy will follow surgery.

What is Chemotherapy?
Chemotherapy is the use of chemical drugs to kill the fast growing cancer cells.

For ovarian cancer the standard drugs used on initial diagnosis depends on stage at diagnosis. Below are the recommended chemotherapy treatments as given in the NCCN guidelines.

Stage I
Carboplatin with paclitaxel or docetaxel - IV ( intravenous)

Stage II, III, IV
Paclitaxel with cisplatin IP ( intraperitoneal injection)
Paclitaxel or docetaxel with Carboplatin - IV
Dose Dense  Paclitaxel with Carboplatin  - IV

The chemotherapy is given in cycles every 14, 21 or 28 days. I wrote about how different chemotherapy drugs work in this blog post. (http://womenofteal.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-do-those-ovarian-cancer-treatments.html)

IP, intraperitoneal chemotherapy allows the drugs to be injected into the peritoneal cavity . Studies have shown that treatment with IP / IV increase increases survival by 16 months over IV treatment alone.

Chemotherapy Drugs for Recurrences: 

When a women's cancer recurs she may be offered the same chemotherapy drugs or one of these approved drugs as found on the NCI website.
 Tomorrow's post will be on targeted therapies for ovarian cancer.
 
Dee
Every Day is a Blessing! 


Source:
NCCN guidelines
http://www.nccn.org/patients/guidelines/ovarian/index.html#42
JCO:
http://jco.ascopubs.org/content/early/2015/08/03/JCO.2015.61.4776.abstract

3 comments:

Ryan35 said...

Various medication available to treat cancer. Generic Emcyt (Estramustine) is used to treat prostate cancer that has progressed or spread.

Unknown said...

Asset health work with patients and physicians in various cancer treatment centers in ca and provide effective therapeutic programs that helps to improve their health. Through research and clinical practice we assess the causes and deliver the right treatments.

maguireadelaide said...

Ovarian cancer is uncommon type of cancer which arises from different types of cells within the ovary. The most common cancers are known as epithelial ovarian cancers. Women have two ovaries one on each side of the uterus. Ovarian cancer often goes undetected until it has spread within the pelvis and abdomen. If you want more details related ovarian cancer you can visit this site .