New Drug To Relieve The Side Effects Of Chemotherapy

Even if the cancer is said to be treatable, it is still scary. In fact, those who have suffered from this disease say that the worst thing is not the treatment itself, but the side effects it causes. Keep reading as we will now tell you more about what you can do to relieve the side effects of chemotherapy.

Ways to relieve the side effects of chemotherapy

Thus, the scientific community is looking for solutions to alleviate the side effects of chemotherapy, but the treatment must still have the necessary efficacy.

This is not an easy equation, especially for lung cancer. Fortunately, very significant progress has been made, such as the steps we are talking about this time around.

First, however, it is appropriate to recall the consequences of chemotherapy.

In addition to the result of hair loss – the most well-known side effect – you may also experience the following symptoms:

• general malaise
• nausea
• vomiting
• acute pain
• damage to organs other than the one being treated

Indeed, this type of medication is so strong that it can damage organs that have been healthy in the past. It should also be noted that there is an ongoing cell battle in the body during treatment.

Evil cells need to kill the good ones in order for them to survive, and they put all their power into this. In order to kill bad cells, good ones have to be put in danger.

Therefore, scientists are looking for alternatives to alleviate the side effects of chemotherapy. The goal is clear, namely to improve the quality of life for all patients who suffer from cancer and also for those who survive.

Immunotherapy – the key to alleviating the side effects of chemotherapy in people with lung cancer

Knowing what we just said about good and bad cells, the scientists thought that the best way to prevent side effects from occurring with chemotherapy is to strengthen cells in good condition instead of trying to kill bad cells. This form of treatment is called immunotherapy.

However, despite the progress made here, the desired result for people with lung cancer has not yet been achieved.

As soon as this problem was noticed, the researchers looked at how long the tumors would grow after cancer treatment. 

Eventually, the researchers found that lung cancer tumors develop walls that prevent the drug from coming into contact with the intended target, and in other cases, resistance creates a type of tolerance to it.

The next question was then clear: how can a drug be created that minimizes the effects of chemotherapy on lung cancer so that these barriers can be circumvented?

A group of oncologists at Hospital 12 de Octubre in Madrid were able to determine how this could be accomplished. Cancer treatment is no longer focused on resistance in general, but on a defined protein  called PD1.

Doctor Gil Bazo, who specializes in oncology, explains that when this protein encounters another protein called PD-L1, and when they combine, the tumor does not recognize this as an enemy, and thus leaves it alone.

This discovery gave rise to a drug called Pembrolizumab, which has created many new hopes for the treatment of lung cancer.

However, it cannot be used in all cases, and its efficacy depends on the presence of PD-L1. For a protein fusion to occur, it must be greater than 51% – otherwise, no fusion to another protein will occur.

The drug may be a solution to control lung cancer

We have previously talked about therapies that prolong a patient’s life expectancy, even though they cannot completely destroy the tumor. In this case, of course, a person’s life will not be asymptomatic, but the patient will still survive.

In addition, at this stage it is necessary to think of many diseases that were sometimes very serious – these include smallpox, tuberculosis and asthma, all of which were once fatal and incurable. However, their role in the classification of diseases is very different today.

These and other similar illnesses have disappeared or  are still part of a patient’s daily life, but they do not mean that life cannot be spent as normal.

It can now be said that in addition to alleviating the side effects of chemotherapy, the first steps have been taken in the management of one of the most dangerous tumors.

Lung cancer is a very aggressive disease. In addition, its development is usually associated with certain lifestyles that are difficult for people to get rid of.

Thus, it is one of the most challenging cancers in terms of treatment, and therefore it is also one of the most dangerous.

The European Commission’s approval of Pembrolizumab has marked the beginning of a very exciting period – now there is finally a chance to make a profit in controlling this disease. Life without giving up self-esteem is always a victory.

Now that these new facts are known, oncologists will continue to focus their attention on research to enable the next step. They know better than anyone that in the fields of medicine and science in general, nothing is ever impossible.

After all, we have reached this stage too, because scientists have not given up and because they have not accepted what has been said to be immutable.

Indeed, they most clearly reflect the spirit of development — the kind of spirit that rebels in front of the “impossible” to improve the lives of others.