Some breast cancer patients need chemotherapy after surgery, some issues that need to be noted in chemotherapy I will teach you here.
1. Chemotherapy is beneficial for patients who need it. There are a lot of international and domestic clinical research results confirming that chemotherapy can bring survival benefits to most tumor patients compared with no chemotherapy, not as some people say that chemotherapy destroys the immunity of patients and has no benefits.
2.There is a consensus among domestic and foreign experts that it is reasonable to start chemotherapy between 4-6 weeks after surgery, and try not to exceed 8 weeks, and not the earlier the better as people say.
At present, the most dynamic backbone chemotherapy drugs for breast cancer are anthracyclines and paclitaxel, the most commonly used ones in China are epirubicin, doxorubicin or paclitaxel, and others are cyclophosphamide, 5-fluorouracil and platinum metal complexes. Most chemotherapy regimens for breast are additive to and subtractive from anthracyclines and paclitaxel.
4.At present, breast cancer is divided into different 4 molecular subtypes according to immunohistochemistry, and then according to each patient’s subtype and risk of recurrence, the chemotherapy regimen for each patient is formulated according to international and domestic treatment norms, so the regimen may be different between patients.
5. Chemotherapy is also known as cytotoxic treatment. In addition to tumor cells will be killed, normal cells of human body will also be damaged, therefore, chemotherapy will have different toxic side effects.
The most common toxic side effects are.
(1) Gastrointestinal reactions: nausea, vomiting, abdominal distension and discomfort, diarrhea, constipation, etc.
(2) Hair loss.
(3) Muscle, joint and bone soreness and pain.
(4) Head pain.
(5) Bone marrow suppression, leukocyte, neutrophil, platelet reduction, etc.
(6) Liver function impairment, elevated transaminases.
(7) Cardiotoxicity.
(8) Oral mucosal ulcers, etc. Most of these toxic side effects are controllable, we have the corresponding preventive and therapeutic measures, so chemotherapy is safe in the vast majority of cases, do not need to worry too much, excessive worry, tension will increase discomfort. If you have serious discomfort, you should inform your primary care physician in a timely manner.
6.Between two cycles of chemotherapy, you need to go to the hospital every week to check your blood count, and the report form should be shown to your doctor. You can go back to the hospital for checkups or ask the mammography or oncology doctor to see them at the local hospital. If the total white blood cell count and neutrophil count are too low, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (leukostimulant injection) will need to be given to support the treatment, and the doctor will need to decide whether the injection is needed. There will be more obvious discomfort such as bone and joint pain with the injection of whitening injection, but there are not many side effects.
7, normal diet during chemotherapy, try not to eat irritating, excessively greasy food, because chemotherapy will cause damage to the gastrointestinal function. The normal amount of food can be, the intake of too much food does not increase the resistance to chemotherapy. You can increase the intake of fruits and vegetables and protein appropriately. Try not to drink alcohol or smoke during chemotherapy. If you cannot eat at all for a short time after chemotherapy, even with more serious vomiting or diarrhea, you can go to the community clinic for infusion therapy and increase the intake of sugar, salt, electrolytes and water appropriately.
8. Pay attention to rest, outdoor activities can be increased in clear and warm weather conditions, and appropriate exercise can be performed. Try to avoid activities in crowded places to avoid upper respiratory tract infections.
9.If you experience special discomfort during chemotherapy interval home, or have generalized fever, cough, coughing and other symptoms, be sure to contact your primary care physician in time for emergency treatment if necessary.
10.The drugs you usually take include antibiotics, cold medicines, heart medicines, etc. Most of them do not conflict with chemotherapy drugs and can continue to be taken. If you are not sure or need to take new drugs, you can consult your primary care physician.
11, during chemotherapy to maintain a good mood as much as possible, try to find something you are interested in doing, think about what you liked before you got sick because you were too busy working and taking care of your family to care? Now you can start!
12.Keep good communication with your loved ones, children, including the elderly, and friends with whom you have a good relationship, tell them your discomfort and concerns, and they will surely try to accompany you and help you.
13.Believe that our disease can be cured, chemotherapy and other treatments needed are all efforts to this goal! Our hard work and efforts will not be in vain!