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Adjuvant therapy: Extra treatment to keep cancer from returning
How effective is adjuvant therapy?
Because none of these treatments is completely harmless, it's important to determine the risks of adjuvant therapy versus the benefits. The following factors can help you and your doctor determine whether adjuvant therapy is appropriate for you and, if so, which type:
- Type of cancer. Treating certain types of cancer — especially breast, prostate, colon and ovarian cancers — with adjuvant therapy can be very beneficial. For other types of cancer, there might not be a benefit.
- Stage of cancer. A cancer's stage refers to the extent of the cancer. If the cancer is at a very early stage — before it has had time to spread — then the chance of cancer recurring after surgery may be very small. Adjuvant therapy may offer little benefit in this case. If cancer is at a later stage — if it is a large tumor or if the cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes — then the chance that cancer will reappear sometime in the future is much greater. Adjuvant therapy may be more beneficial in this case.
- Number of lymph nodes involved. The larger the number of lymph nodes involved, the greater the chance that cancer cells will be left behind after local therapy, such as surgery.
- Hormone receptivity. Hormone therapy won't be effective if your tumor is not hormonally sensitive.
- Other cancer-specific changes. Certain cancers may have specific changes within their cells that indicate they are particularly sensitive to adjuvant therapy. Your doctor may request special testing of your cancer cells to determine if adjuvant therapy would be beneficial.
Receiving adjuvant therapy doesn't guarantee your cancer won't recur. It can, however, help reduce the risk that your cancer will come back.
Is adjuvant therapy for you?
As you're deciding whether adjuvant therapy is right for you, you might want to discuss the following issues with your doctor:
- What procedures are you considering? Find out exactly what will be expected of you during adjuvant therapy. Will you have to see your doctor for injections or will you take pills at home?
- What are the side effects? What side effects are you willing to live with? Which ones will be too much for you to tolerate? Do you plan to work or stay active during treatment? Could side effects interfere with your plans?
- What are the chances you'll stay cancer-free? Understand how likely it is that your cancer will return if you decide against further therapy and how much improvement you might experience if you do undergo additional therapy. Your doctor can estimate how well your treatment will work based on comparisons with data accumulated from studies of other people with your same type of cancer, at the same stage and given the same treatment. Remember that this is only a prediction.
Together you and your doctor can weigh these factors and decide whether the benefits of adjuvant therapy outweigh the risks for you.
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