home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- What Chemotherapy Can Achieve There are four possible results of chemotherapy given for visible or known areas of cancer.
- • Complete remission The tumor may seem to disappear completely, meaning that there is a complete
- response to the drugs. This clearly indicates the treatment is working, though it has to continue for a while so
- any "hidden" cancer cells will be destroyed. Current detection methods can miss an internal tumor smaller than
- half an inch (about 1 cm) and if treatment is stopped too soon there is a high chance for a relapse.
- Some remissions, especially for very responsive tumors, may be permanent. Others are temporary, lasting
- for months or even years. But then the tumor reappears or begins to grow again. Complete remission,
- therefore, is not necessarily the same as a cure. "Cure" usually means the lack of any sign of cancer for at least
- five years, but how it's defined really depends on the kind of cancer being treated and on the individual patient.
- • Partial remission The tumor may shrink by more than half its size but not disappear. This is obviously a
- good result, but therapy has to be continued until the tumor either completely disappears or stops shrinking. If
- it simply stops shrinking, the drug program may be changed or surgery or radiotherapy may be used to try to
- wipe out the remaining tumor cells.
- • Stabilization The tumor may neither shrink nor grow. This can be looked on as a favorable result of
- therapy, but doctors tend to be nervous when this happens. They basically worry that the effect may be brief
- and the tumor will start growing again. The period of stabilization can sometimes last months or years.
