What is pancreatic cancer chemotherapy?

Cancer can develop in any part of the body. Pancreatic cancer starts in the tissues of the pancreas, which lies behind the lower part of the stomach. The most widely found cancer in the pancreas is the one that starts in the cells that line the duct that carries digestive enzymes out of the organ. Based on the extent of cancer and the patient’s health, pancreatic cancer chemotherapy is prescribed to the patient. Let us know more about this treatment.

Pancreatic cancer chemotherapy

It is the dedicated process in which drugs are used to destroy the cancer cells from the pancreas. It consists of the defined number of cycles provided to the patient over the set time limit. A combination of drugs or a single drug may be used in pancreatic cancer chemotherapy

Drugs approved in pancreatic cancer chemotherapy:

The main drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating pancreatic cancer are:

  •  Oxaliplatin (Eloxatin)
  • Nanoliposomal irinotecan (Onivyde)
  • Nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane)
  • Leucovorin (Wellcovorin)
  • Irinotecan (Camptosar)
  • Gemcitabine (Gemzar)
  • Fluorouracil (5-FU)
  • Capecitabine (Xeloda)

Factors deciding the course of pancreatic cancer chemotherapy:

Some of the factors on which the course of pancreatic cancer chemotherapy is decided include:
  • The overall health of the patient
  • Side effects of the chemotherapy
  • Genetic makeup
  • Treatment history of the patient
  • Stages of disease
  • Diagnosis of the cancer stages.

Different pancreatic cancer chemotherapy types:

First-line chemotherapy: It is the first treatment used for treating pancreatic cancer and is administered to patients having no previous history of chemotherapy.

Second-line chemotherapy: It is administered to patients having “refractory cancer,” in which the first-line chemotherapy fails to control the growth of cancer cells. The reasons for it can be the “primary resistance “of the body in which first-line chemotherapy didn’t work or the “secondary resistance” in which the body responds for some time but stops responding after it. Hence, second-line chemotherapy is prepared based on the results from the first-line chemotherapy.

Off-label use: The use of off-label drugs, i.e., the drugs which are not prescribed by the USFDA for use in pancreatic cancer chemotherapy, is called off-label use chemotherapy. Such drugs are based on ongoing research or previously published papers. However, the drug itself is not labeled to treat pancreatic cancer but may have shown promising results in inhibiting tumor growth.

Wrapping Up:

Hence, lymphoma chemotherapy treatment and pancreatic cancer chemotherapy are the advanced forms of treatment prescribed to patients suffering from cancer. The different cancer stages define the type of chemotherapy in pancreatic or lymphatic cancer patients. Further, USFDA prescribed drugs are used based on the patient’s health and previous medical history. No two patients have the same results from the same treatment and hence a specialized team of the multi-disciplinary doctors decides the dedicated chemotherapy treatment.

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