Chemotherapy in oncology: drugs. How chemotherapy is done in oncology?

In our life, probably, there is no worse disease than cancer. The tumor ruthlessly mows people, regardless of their sex, age, status. Every day more and more children enter the hospital with a terrible diagnosis. At such moments it seems that there is no hope left. However, chemotherapy in oncology is considered an effective way of fighting. Timely diagnosis of the tumor increases the chances of recovery.

Oncological diseases

Oncological diseases or cancer are malignant tumors. They are formed as a result of degeneration and rapid multiplication of epithelial cells. Cancer can affect bone, muscle, brain tissue (sarcoma) and the circulatory system. The insidiousness of the disease consists in the fact that it develops gradually, without obvious signs. Tumors can for years not make themselves felt. Often the signs of an illness appear already at the third or fourth stage, when the treatment becomes difficult.

Stages of cancer:

• Zero, when the tumor has not yet managed to hit the lymph nodes and other organs.
• The first, second, third - the tumor gradually grows deep, extending to the lymph nodes and the nearest organs.
• The fourth is the death sentence. The tumor extends to all organs (metastasis). At this stage, the cancer is no longer amenable to treatment. The only way out is maintenance therapy, which prolongs life and suppresses pain. Even chemotherapy with oncology remains impotent. Drugs used in treatment can not only harm, but also aggravate the patient's condition.

The causes and symptoms of the appearance of tumors

Of course, it's very difficult to name all causes of cancer. Malignant tumors can be formed both in a person who has health problems, and in absolutely healthy people.

The risk factors include:

• Harmful habits (smoking, unregulated use of alcohol).
• Accommodation in contaminated and toxic areas.
• Hormonal failures and disorders.
• Injuries.
• Stress.
• Ultraviolet radiation.

In order for chemotherapy treatment of oncology to be successful, the ailment must be recognized in the first - second stage. Later diagnosis is often unsuccessful.

Common symptoms of malignant tumors:

• Sharp and unexplained weight loss (from five and above kilograms), lack of appetite.
• Elevated body temperature, fever, chills.
• The general state of health is bad, the person is quickly tired.
• Nervousness, insomnia.
• Pain of different locations.
• Changes on the skin - growths, rashes, darkening, redness, jaundice.
• Violated urination and stool.
• Wounds that do not heal for a long time.
• Bleeding, discharge from the organs (from the ears, nose, etc.).
• Seals on the body, palpable.

Diagnosis and treatment

Tumors are of two kinds - benign (only one organ affects, tissue proliferation occurs slowly) and malignant (penetrate into all organs, affecting them with their cells). Early diagnosis of cancer helps to prevent the reproduction of the tumor, and also increases the chances of a normal and full life. The presence of a tumor can be determined with the help of such complex methods:

• Blood test.
• X-ray.
• Tomography (computer and magnetic resonance).
• Ultrasound.
• Cytological studies.
• Biopsy (investigation of tumor particles).

The earlier cancer was discovered, the easier it is to treat it. Therefore, do not neglect any symptoms. After all, it can be a "cry for help" of your body.

Methods of treating cancer:

1. Surgical - one of the main. It is used in the early stages, when the tumor has not yet grown throughout the body.
2. Radiation therapy. The principle of action is irradiation of cancer cells and their DNA, as a result of which they lose the ability to multiply and die. Often this method is used together with a surgical one.
3. Chemotherapy. Treatment of tumors with drugs. How do chemotherapy in oncology - the question is individual. This directly depends on the individual case and the patient.
4. Supportive therapy. The goal is to maintain and prolong the life of the patient. The main task is to reduce pain and suffering. Supportive therapy is used in the last stages of cancer, when hope is completely extinguished, and a miracle will not happen.

How chemotherapy is conducted in oncology

Radiation therapy, like chemotherapy, in most cases is used in conjunction with surgical intervention. Sometimes the entire tumor can not be removed immediately, and only one part is cut out. To another apply the method of radiation therapy.

Chemotherapy for the treatment of cancer is always used. Medications can kill a tumor completely, but can only stop its growth and reproduction.

Of course, chemotherapy with oncology consequences is very different. After all, the goal of drugs is to damage the tumor cells. But with them the healthy cells of the body also suffer. Therefore, chemotherapy is carried out by courses, the break between which can range from weeks to several months. So, the body has time to recover a little. The duration of the course depends on the stage of the tumor.

For treatment use two main types of drugs - cytostatics and cytotoxins. The first task is to destroy the cancer cell, and the latter are needed to trigger apoptosis (the so-called "suicide" of cells).

Side effects of chemotherapy in oncology

Like any medication, chemotherapy courses adversely affect the body. Medicines that are used to treat cancer have a number of side effects. But if you have to choose between life and death, chemotherapy is the lesser of two evils.

Treatment is carried out in several ways:

• Injection directly into the tumor.
• Pills.
• Intravenous or intramuscular injection. So the majority of chemotherapy drugs is administered.
• Preparations of local action.

The main task of chemotherapy is to kill, reduce the size of tumor cells, and also to stop their reproduction. Therefore, it is not surprising that the drugs are very toxic.

The main side effects:

1. Deterioration of health, nausea, vomiting, weakness.
2. Hair loss, baldness.
3. Disruption of the digestive system.
4. Hearing disorders, coordination of movements.
5. Numbness of the extremities.

Even when side effects have a pronounced character - this is not an excuse for discontinuing treatment. Of course, chemotherapy with oncology patients reviews are very different. There are times when side effects are almost invisible to the patient. However, this happens rarely.

After the next course of preparations, the body is partially restored, and the negative reaction to medicines completely disappears.

Many cancer patients are interested in the topic "Chemotherapy and hair": why does it fall out, how long will this continue, will new hair grow?

Alopecia is the main side effect of chemotherapy. Hair begins to fall out not immediately, but after several courses of medication. However, when there is a complete recovery, new hair will grow.

Most patients during the treatment use wigs or headdresses.

Chemotherapy and proper nutrition

Enriched and balanced food, a healthy lifestyle is the best prevention of all diseases. Especially important is proper nutrition with chemotherapy. Oncology for any person is always a sharp loss of weight and a decrease in appetite. Therefore, high-calorie and nutritious food is a way out of the situation. Useful products will help to regulate body weight, and also increase the body's defenses, which is so necessary for recovery.

There are several simple rules concerning nutrition, which favorably affect the body during chemotherapy:

• Food should be taken often and in small portions.
• Wherever there was a patient, at hand always should be products for a snack.
• More liquid food.
• Preference should be given to high-calorie foods.
• It is necessary to avoid sauces, marinades and specific seasonings.
• Food for oncology is better to cook for a couple. So, they will retain more useful substances.
• It should be excluded too fatty meat, fish, raw eggs, dairy products with high acidity, salted and pickled vegetables. Fruit is better to eat in the form of mashed potatoes, kissels, compotes, mousses.
• Avoid need carbonated drinks, coffee, sour juices.
• In the diet should be present foods containing zinc, selenium, B vitamins. This is necessary for the renewal of the hairline.
• Favorably on the body affects food rich in flavonoids, serotonin and endorphin (chocolate, seafood, dry red wine).

Thus, for any person with cancer, the first place should always be nutrition with chemotherapy. Oncology is not a sentence yet. The disease can be cured if it is properly dealt with. And for the fight will always need the strength and energy that are contained in healthy food.

Lung cancer: symptoms, diagnosis, treatment

Lung cancer is a common type of tumor. It affects men more than women. One of the main causes of tumor formation is the inhalation of carcinogenic substances, in particular, smoking. A considerable influence is exerted by the external environment, harmful working conditions (contact with nickel, radon, chromium, irradiation).

You can recognize lung cancer by the following symptoms:

• Prolonged cough.
• Whistling breath.
• Sputum with blood.
• Weakness, fatigue, malaise.
• Decreased performance, fast fatigue.
• Increased temperature.
• Pain in the chest.

When symptoms are ignored, the disease goes to a neglected stage, which is fraught with a fatal outcome.

Therefore, at the slightest malaise, you should go to the hospital for examination. Put the exact diagnosis of "cancer" can only be after such tests:

1. Sputum cytology.
2. Bronchoscopy.
3. Puncture biopsy.
4. CT scan.

Chemotherapy for oncology of the lungs is always an effective method of treatment. It is conducted both in combination with other methods, and independently. Under the action of drugs stops the growth of cancers.

Surgical intervention is possible only in the first - the second stage, when the affected areas do not exceed six centimeters. Often the tumor is detected already in the third - the fourth stage. Then the operation is simply impossible. In such cases, complex radiotherapy and "chemotherapy" are prescribed.

Of course, chemotherapy for oncology of the lungs, like other organs, is always side effects. The reaction of the body to drugs can be very different - nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, baldness.

Unpleasant sensations will disappear immediately after the abolition of the course of drugs

Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer is not as common as lung cancer. However, he ranks seventh among tumors in women. In addition, the greatest mortality occurs precisely because of this ailment.

The reason for this is the inability to diagnose the disease at an early stage. Symptoms of the disease are completely absent. The best prophylaxis for ovarian cancer will be an annual checkup from your gynecologist. Women who visit a specialist on a timely basis perform ultrasound diagnostics, are more likely to recover fully in the case of an early diagnosis of cancer.

The risk group is women who do not have children who are over forty-five years old. And also those who have a predisposition to "female" tumors (in the genus already had ovarian cancer, uterine cancer, appendages, breast cancer).

Recognize the cancer of the ovaries can be through ultrasound, biopsy and computed tomography. A relatively new method of diagnosis is a blood test for oncomarkers. In the early stages they are found in the blood. Each oncomarker is responsible for a particular organ. For example, oncology markers CA 125 and AFP indicate ovarian cancer.

The surest way to treat ovarian cancer is surgical. During the operation, the affected areas are removed (often complete or partial removal of the ovaries, tubes, sometimes the uterus).

After the operation, a course of medicines is always prescribed. Chemotherapy for oncology of the ovaries will eliminate the remaining cancer cells.

The best prevention of ovarian cancer and other "female" tumors is pregnancy and childbirth, breast-feeding (at least a year), and oral contraceptives. A major role is also played by a routine examination by a doctor, which is carried out at least once a year.

Prophylaxis of malignant tumors

If before the diagnosis of "cancer" sounded like a sentence, today this terrible disease can be defeated! To do this, it is sufficient to detect the disease in time and consult a doctor for help. Modern methods of treatment are able to return a healthy life to the patient. Never ignore the suspicious symptoms and signs of the disease. Sometimes even a simple flu can cause serious complications and formation of tumor cells.

The best prevention of cancer is a healthy lifestyle. Observance of such simple rules will save from many ailments:

1. Proper and balanced nutrition (especially important when chemotherapy is used in oncology).
2. Active way of life, physical education, walks.
3. Refusal from bad habits, limited use of alcohol.
4. Vitamins every day.
5. The sun is in favor, but not in harm. Prolonged sun baths cause tumors.
6. Use of personal protective equipment in harmful working conditions.
7. Regular sex.
8. No stress! More positive emotions!

Of course, life is not always the way you want. It is not always possible to follow certain rules. However, this should be sought.

Conclusion

Our life is a game - and we are all actors. Someone got the main role, and someone is removed only in episodes. You never know who will be the winner, but who will forever leave this life.

Cancer is the "plague" of the twenty-first century. He does not look at age, gender and status. He "mows" all in a row. And although people have found ways to combat this terrible disease, however, they do not always bring results.

For example, chemotherapy in oncology at the fourth stage is just a delay of the inevitable. It is effective in the early stages of the disease. Therefore, it is necessary to take responsibly to your health and to the health of your loved ones. Only timely diagnosis will save life and give hope!