Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is a treatment used to eradicate various cancers. In chemotherapy, various drugs or chemicals are used which either slows down or stops growth of cancer cells. GTX chemotherapy is used to treat metastatic pancreatic cancer, 10th most common cancer. Patient with pancreatic cancer suffer from pain, asthenia. GTX chemotherapy contains three chemotherapy drugs which include gemicitabine, docetaxel and fluorouracil (5FU).

Gemicitabine was the standard is the standard treatment in metastatic pancreatic cancer. However, combination chemotherapy is more effective than single drug chemotherapy. Combination chemotherapy regimen is applied to treat metastatic pancreatic cancer which is known as GTX chemotherapy. Chemotherapy regimen includes include gemicitabine, docetaxel and fluorouracil (5FU). GTX chemotherapy is an effective and well tolerated therapy for metastatic pancreatic cancer.

GTX chemotherapy is applied in cycles. Chemotherapy treatment cycle comprise of treatment period and rest period. Each treatment period is followed by rest period. Rest period allows patient to recover from side effects associated with chemotherapy.

Patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer are treated with GTX chemotherapy. The chemotherapy regimen for GTX consists of gemicitabine (750 mg/m2 p.o.) applied on days 1 to 14 of treatment cycle with gemicitabine (750 mg/m2) and docetaxel (30 mg/m2) on days 4 and 11 of treatment cycle is administered intravenously.

Cycles are repeated every 21 days. The median survival rate for patient treated with GTX chemotherapy is more than previous treatment (almost 10% results).

Chemotherapy usually stops growth of fast growing cancerous cells. However, chemotherapy drugs also damage some normal body cells which cause some unpleasant side effects. However each patient reacts differently to chemotherapy treatment. Some patients experience few side effects, while others may have more.

The side effects associated with chemotherapy include nausea, vomiting, low appetite, low resistance to infection, bleeding, anemia, sickness, hair loss, memory loss and sore mouth. Chemotherapy also causes low blood cell count. It causes susceptibility of infection. So before starting each chemotherapy cycle, make sure patient have enough blood cell count by taking blood test. These side effects are temporary and will disappear once the treatment is over. However, do not ignore any of the side effects and contact your doctor immediately

The GTX chemotherapy regimen has a potential advantage in the treatment of metastatic pancreatic cancer. It has produced an excellent response rate and superior survival for patient with an extremely poor prognosis.