Chemotherapy for ovarian cancer is the use of medication to stop or slow the cancer cells from growing. A combination of medicines interferes with the growth of rapidly developing cells, thus helping to destroy the cancer and thus cure the patient. Chemotherapy treatment for ovarian cancer is needed in almost all stages of ovarian cancer; the procedure is usually carried out after the cancer is removed from the body via surgery, but some forms of chemotherapy are conducted pre-surgery as well. Stage I of ovarian cancer doesn't often require chemotherapy, as surgery is enough to get rid of the cancer-spreading cells.
Intraperitoneal chemotherapy for ovarian cancer is when liquid chemo is administered directly into the abdominal cavity via a catheter. This procedure's success rate depends on the patient's tumor size.
Intraperitoneal chemotherapy only penetrates up to a limited number of millimeters, so women with the smallest volume of residual disease will respond well to it. The requirement right now is that the tumor should be no larger than one centimeter in diameter for a patient before an IP treatment. The risks of intraperitoneal chemotherapy are bleeding, infection, lung problems like pneumonia, heart issues, kidney problems and blood clots. The estimated death rate is said to be 5%.
Chemical reduction of cancer cells is known as neoadjuvant chemotherapy. This is done with platinum and taxane agents, and is a standard procedure for advanced stages of ovarian cancer. There are two strategies involved in neoadjuvant chemotherapy for ovarian cancer; one is to administer the therapy before surgery so that the cancer cells are reduced when the primary debulking operation is conducted, and the other is to administer it after the primary debulking surgery to remove any residual cancer cells that were too small or that couldn't be removed. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) is an approach that is proven to be beneficial when the patient's condition is not favorable for primary debulking surgery or when the disease does not agree with surgical resection. Vomiting, nausea, hair-loss, tiredness, abdominal pain, bloating and psychological effects are the side effects of chemotherapy for ovarian cancer. Various types of chemotherapy are administered based on the stages and the advanced levels of the cancer.
The main types of chemotherapy for ovarian cancer are:References