What is concurrent chemotherapy?

concurrent chemotherapy is treatment provided with radiation therapy for cancer patients. The protocols of historical cancer treatment often require patients to undergo chemotherapy and radiation separately. Evidence suggests that concurrent treatment may be more effective for some types of cancer than sequential and leads to revisions in the recommendations of treatment. Patients preparing for cancer treatment can discuss their possibilities with a doctor to determine what is best for their condition. They can continue for several weeks or months, depending on how well cancer responds to treatment. Radiation actively destroys cancer cells to break tumors. Research on parallel chemotherapy shows that drugs can increase susceptible cells to radiation. Drug use at the same time as radiation therapy result is a more positive result compared to patients who undergo one treatment at a time. They begin with induction chemotherapy, which may include high doses in an effort to hit cancer as difficult as possible. AsAlthough in chemotherapy, they begin to participate in radiation sessions. In each session, the techniques carefully direct radiation at the tumor site to kill the cells.

One of the disadvantages of concurrent chemotherapy is that it can be difficult for patients. The drugs used to treat cancer are extremely aggressive and notoriously cause serious side effects such as loss of appetite and nausea. Radiation can also cause patients to feel good, depending on position and dose. The combination of these two can cause increased discomfort and patients may have difficulty in activity, such as possessing during radiation treatment when their chemotherapy drugs cause them to feel bad. There are options for control of side effects that help patients complete treatment.

Cancer care can be highly individualized depending on the type of cancer, location, medical history and other factors. ProviderCare does not always recommend concurrent chemotherapy. If they do not feel necessary or beneficial, they may provide information about other treatments and justification by rejection of this approach to the patient. People with questions and concerns may encounter a second opinion provider if they feel they need more information than they decide how they want to continue with treatment.