Is cancer patient postoperative accept put change cure or Chinese traditional medicine to treat?
Often cancer patients in the face of radical surgery is about to carry out radiotherapy and chemotherapy generation of hesitation, do not do postoperative radiotherapy and chemotherapy? Can chemoradiotherapy cause relapse and metastasis? In this article we are going to talk about this.
Patients have questions like, “I’ve had radical surgery and the lesion has been removed. Since there is no lesion, do you still need to do radiotherapy and chemotherapy?” This is because most malignant tumors are invasive growth, just like roots spreading underground. Surgery can remove gross tumors that can be seen by the naked eye, but some subclinical lesions that can only be found under a microscope are sometimes difficult to cut completely, thus becoming the source of recurrence. While postoperative radiotherapy can maximize the prevention of local recurrence of the lesion site, systemic chemotherapy can reduce the risk of distant metastasis. That is to say, destroy the cancer cells in the body within a certain range, to achieve the goal of “all evil”.
Some patients will ask, “why don’t some patients need chemoradiotherapy after surgery, while I need to do it? Some patients just need chemotherapy and I need radiation?” Whether or not postoperative chemoradiotherapy is required depends on the site of tumor and postoperative pathology, stage and physical condition. Generally speaking, the earlier the stage is (such as stage I and part of stage II patients), the less likely it is that postoperative chemoradiotherapy is required. The later the stage (such as some stage II and III patients), the greater the likelihood of receiving postoperative treatment.
For example, the postoperative pathological report of a patient with rectal cancer was as follows: (rectal) poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma, the cancer tissue penetrated through the intrinsic muscle layer to the subserosal membrane (pT3), tumor thrombe could be seen in the blood vessel, no cancer involvement was observed at the broken end, and metastases could be seen in the mesenteric lymph nodes (3/20). Except for distant metastasis, the patient was postoperatively diagnosed as stage IIIB pT3N1M0 adenocarcinoma of the rectum. According to international clinical practice guidelines, patients in this stage need postoperative radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The risk of recurrence and metastasis can be minimized by the proper course of postoperative chemoradiotherapy. For the same stage IIIB, if the lesion appears in the colon, radiotherapy is not recommended, and a sufficient course of chemotherapy is enough. This is because rectal cancer is more prone to local recurrence, and the colon can move with intestinal motility, making it difficult to accurately locate.
The postoperative chemoradiotherapy usually starts about a month after the surgery. At this time, the patients just recover from the shock of the operation and start to receive the treatment. Hearing that these treatments will have side effects of one kind or another, it is hard to avoid fear. The author advises patient friend here, must listen to the advice of oncologist doctor more at this moment. One month after the operation, a comprehensive examination should be conducted, including blood examination and imaging examination, and whether patients are tolerant to chemoradiotherapy or not. The doctor will make recommendations based on your physical condition and examination results, rather than the patients’ decisions. It needs to be reminded that postoperative adjuvant therapy can reduce the risk of recurrence and metastasis, but it is mostly limited to 3-6 months after the operation. If radiotherapy and chemotherapy are performed after 6 months, the effect is greatly reduced, and most adjuvant therapy is no longer recommended. In addition, chemoradiotherapy itself will not lead to recurrence or metastasis, but it is not recommended to destroy the body for the cost, at all costs to chemoradiotherapy, should act according to one’s ability, do “cure and retain”.
Some patients will ask: does Chinese traditional medicine have the effect of preventing recurrence and metastasis? Can use Chinese traditional medicine to treat replace postoperative assist put change cure? The correct answer is: for patients who need radiotherapy and chemotherapy after surgery, Chinese and western medicine are neck and neck, or like walking on two legs. Chinese traditional medicine has been spread and used for thousands of years, proving that it is effective in treating and preventing diseases. Chinese medicine can be used throughout the whole process of cancer treatment, including before and after surgery, during chemoradiotherapy, during drug withdrawal observation, and even in advanced stages of cancer. For postoperative patients with qi and blood loss injury and weak body, Chinese medicine can be used to replenish qi and nourish blood, assist healthy qi, and promote the recovery of the body at the fastest speed. Different radiotherapy sites may present radioactive oral mucositis, esophagitis, pneumonia, proctitis, etc. Patients may present with oral ulcer, pharyngeal pain, dry mouth, post-sternal pain after swallowing, diarrhea, etc. Chemotherapy may appear fatigue, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, hair loss, decline of extremities numbness, blood picture, etc., this stage can be adopted according to the different symptoms of patients with individualized treatment of traditional Chinese medicine, through various forms, such as oral, infusion, external use, such as acupuncture, tried their best to reduce the side effects from radiation and chemotherapy, relieve symptoms, guarantee the patients quality of life, to run concurrent chemoradiation.
In short, for postoperative patients who need adjuvant chemoradiotherapy, they blindly pursue chemoradiotherapy and abandon traditional Chinese medicine. Or blindly exaggerate the role of traditional Chinese medicine, refused to chemoradiotherapy, are not desirable.
