What Is Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy?

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy refers to systemic chemotherapy performed before the implementation of local treatment methods (such as surgery or radiotherapy), the purpose of which is to shrink the mass and kill the invisible metastatic cells early to facilitate subsequent surgery, radiotherapy and other treatments. For patients with early tumors, they can usually be cured by local treatment schemes without the need for neoadjuvant chemotherapy. For patients with advanced tumors, neoadjuvant chemotherapy is usually not used because they have lost the opportunity to cure the tumor.

Basic Information

nickname

Preoperative chemotherapy

English name

neoadjuvant chemotherapy

Visiting department

Oncology

Multiple groups

Cancer patients

Common symptoms

Lump shrinks, kills invisible metastatic cells early

Indications for neoadjuvant chemotherapy

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is mainly used for some patients with metastatic tumors, in order to shrink the tumor by chemotherapy first, and then cure the tumor by surgery or radiotherapy. There are successful cases of ovarian cancer, bone and soft tissue sarcoma, rectal cancer, bladder cancer, breast cancer and non-small cell lung cancer.

Timing of surgery after neoadjuvant chemotherapy

For patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy, a series of imaging examinations need to be re-evaluated to assess whether surgery can be performed. If the surgeon thinks there is a possibility of surgery, he needs to wait for the patient's blood to return to normal after surgery, usually 3 to 4 weeks after the end of neoadjuvant chemotherapy. If bevacizumab is used for treatment, surgery usually needs to be performed at least 6 weeks after stopping treatment. If sorafenib or sunitinib is used for treatment, surgery can usually be considered after 1 to 2 weeks of withdrawal. The purpose is to reduce bleeding during surgery and to prevent non-healing of the wound after surgery.

Risk of neoadjuvant chemotherapy

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is also at risk, and some patients do not receive good results with neoadjuvant chemotherapy. As a result, the lesions increase or the patient's physique declines, and the opportunity to cure the tumor may be lost.