Corel Medical Series: Cancer/Corel Medical Series: Cancer.iso/mac/Program/p07.dxr/00066_Field_SRC.p07.A.4.txt

Text File | 1997-02-04 | 2KB | 16 lines

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.