Treatment FAQ

what does adjuvant treatment mean

by Prof. Trevion Steuber DDS Published 3 years ago Updated 2 years ago
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Adjuvant therapy: Treatment that is given in addition to the primary (initial) treatment. Adjuvant treatment is an addition designed to help reach the ultimate goal. Adjuvant therapy for cancer usually refers to surgery followed by chemo - or radiotherapy to help decrease the risk of the cancer recurring (coming back).

Full Answer

What does adjuvant therapy mean?

Apr 29, 2020 · What is adjuvant therapy? Adjuvant therapy is often used after primary treatments, such as surgery, to lessen the chance of your cancer coming back. Even if your surgery was successful at removing all visible cancer, microscopic bits of cancer sometimes remain and are undetectable with current methods.

How to pronounce adjuvant therapy?

Sep 12, 2021 · Adjuvant therapy for cancer is a treatment done in addition to the treatment given to the primary tumor (such as surgery). It aims to kill any cancer cells remaining at the site or that have spread to other places in the body. Adjuvant therapy may be chemotherapy, immunotherapy, hormone therapy, targeted therapy, or radiation therapy.

Is adjuvant considered first line chemo?

adjuvant. (ăj′ə-vənt) n. 1. A treatment that enhances an existing medical regimen, as a pharmacological agent added to a drug to increase or aid its effect. 2. An immunological agent that increases the antigenic response. adj. Contributing to or enhancing an existing medical regimen: adjuvant chemotherapy.

What are the examples of adjuvant?

Mar 29, 2021 · Adjuvant therapy: Treatment that is given in addition to the primary (initial) treatment. Adjuvant treatment is an addition designed to help reach the ultimate goal. Adjuvant therapy for cancer usually refers to surgery followed by chemo - or radiotherapy to help decrease the risk of the cancer recurring (coming back).

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What is meant by adjuvant treatment?

Listen to pronunciation. (A-joo-vunt THAYR-uh-pee) Additional cancer treatment given after the primary treatment to lower the risk that the cancer will come back. Adjuvant therapy may include chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormone therapy, targeted therapy, or biological therapy.

What is the difference between chemotherapy and adjuvant chemotherapy?

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is delivered before surgery with the goal of shrinking a tumor or stopping the spread of cancer to make surgery less invasive and more effective. Adjuvant chemotherapy is administered after surgery to kill any remaining cancer cells with the goal of reducing the chances of recurrence.

What does adjuvant mean in medical terms?

Medical Definition of adjuvant (Entry 1 of 2) 1 : serving to aid or contribute. 2 : assisting in the prevention, amelioration, or cure of disease adjuvant chemotherapy following surgery.

How is Adjuvant therapy given?

Adjuvant therapy is any type of therapy that follows the primary treatment. So, adjuvant chemotherapy takes place after you've had first-line treatment, such as surgery to remove a cancerous tumor.Mar 10, 2021

Do you lose your hair with adjuvant chemotherapy?

Chemotherapy drugs are powerful medications that attack rapidly growing cancer cells. Unfortunately, these drugs also attack other rapidly growing cells in your body — including those in your hair roots. Chemotherapy may cause hair loss all over your body — not just on your scalp.

How long does Adjuvant therapy last?

Adjuvant treatments may last from just a few weeks to as long as 10 years.

What is adjuvant in vaccines?

An adjuvant is an ingredient used in some vaccines that helps create a stronger immune response in people receiving the vaccine. In other words, adjuvants help vaccines work better.

What is an adjuvanted flu vaccine?

An adjuvant is an ingredient added to a vaccine that helps create a stronger immune response to vaccination. FLUAD Quadrivalent is approved for use among people 65 years and older, who often have a lower protective immune response after flu vaccination compared to younger, healthier people.

What are the types of adjuvants?

2.1. Types of adjuvantsAdjuvantCompositionReceptor targetedAluminumOne or more of the following: amorphous aluminum hydroxyphosphate sulfate (AAHS), aluminum hydroxide, aluminum phosphate, potassium aluminum sulfate (Alum)T helper cell, NLRP3 and other innate immune cells8 more rows

What are the side effects of adjuvant chemotherapy?

Regardless of the type of adjuvant therapy, hot flashes, fatigue, and sleep disturbances were the most common symptoms, each reported by more than two-thirds of the patients. Pain in bones, muscles, or joints was also highly prevalent, each reported by at least half of the overall patient cohort.Feb 15, 2019

How long is adjuvant chemotherapy?

Adjuvant chemotherapy (therapy after surgery has removed all visible cancer) may last 4-6 months. Adjuvant chemotherapy is common in cancers of the breast and colon. In cancers of the testis, Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and leukemias, length of chemotherapy treatment may be up to a year.

Why would Dr stop chemo?

Cancer treatment is at its most effective the first time that it's used. If you've undergone three or more chemotherapy treatments for your cancer and the tumors continue to grow or spread, it may be time for you to consider stopping chemotherapy.

What Is Adjuvant Therapy?

Adjuvant therapy is often used after primary treatments, such as surgery, to lessen the chance of your cancer coming back. Even if your surgery was...

Which Treatments Are Used as Adjuvant Therapies?

Types of cancer treatment that are used as adjuvant therapy include: 1. Chemotherapy. Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells throughout the b...

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 followi...

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: 1. What procedures a...

Adjuvant

Referring to a management strategy used in addition to the primary therapy.

adjuvant

Immunology Any nonspecific immune enhancer–eg Freund's adjuvant, BCG vaccine, consisting of a particulate-rich oily substances, which promotes protein aggregation; adjuvant mixed with an antigen acts as a tissue depot, slowly releasing antigen and activating the immune system Oncology The addition of chemotherapy to a traditional therapeutic modality to ↓ M&M Pharmacology A substance which, when added to a medication, enhances its pharmacologic effect.

What is adjuvant treatment?

The aim of adjuvant treatment is to improve disease-specific symptoms and overall survival. Because the treatment is essentially for a risk, rather than for provable disease, it is accepted that a proportion of patients who receive adjuvant therapy will already have been cured by their primary surgery.

What is adjuvant therapy for breast cancer?

Adjuvant therapy in breast cancer is used in stage one and two breast cancer following lumpectomy, and in stage three breast cancer due to lymph node involvement. In glioblastoma multiforme, adjuvant chemoradiotherapy is critical in the case of a completely removed tumor, as with no other therapy, recurrence occurs in 1–3 months .

What is neoadjuvant therapy?

Neoadjuvant therapy. Neoadjuvant therapy, in contrast to adjuvant therapy, is given before the main treatment. For example, systemic therapy for breast cancer that is given before removal of a breast is considered neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The most common reason for neoadjuvant therapy for cancer is to reduce the size of ...

How often is DDC given?

Cancer cells that are left over after a surgery are typically rapidly dividing cells, leaving them the most vulnerable to chemotherapy. Standard chemotherapy regimens are usually administered every 3 weeks to allow normal cells time to recover. This practice has led scientists to the hypothesis that the recurrence of cancer after surgery and chemo may be due to the rapidly diving cells outpacing the rate of chemotherapy administration. DDC tries to circumvent this issue by giving chemotherapy every 2 weeks. To lessen the side effects of chemotherapy that can be exacerbated with more closely administered chemotherapy treatments, growth factors are typically given in conjunction with DDC to restore white blood cell counts. A recent 2018 meta-analysis of DDC clinical trials in early stage breast cancer patients indicated promising results in premenopausal women, but DDC has yet to become the standard of treatment in clinics.

What is systemic therapy?

For example, radiotherapy or systemic therapy is commonly given as adjuvant treatment after surgery for breast cancer. Systemic therapy consists of chemotherapy, immunotherapy or biological response modifiers or hormone therapy.

Does interferon help with melanoma?

The role of adjuvant therapy in malignant melanoma is and has been hotly debated by oncologists. In 1995 a multicenter study reported improved long-term and disease-free survival in melanoma patients using interferon alpha 2b as an adjuvant therapy. Thus, later that year the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved interferon alpha 2b for melanoma patients who are currently free of disease, to reduce the risk of recurrence. Since then, however, some doctors have argued that interferon treatment does not prolong survival or decrease the rate of relapse, but only causes harmful side effects. Those claims have not been validated by scientific research.

Does temozolomide help with metastatic melanoma?

Dacarbazine, temozolomide, and cisplatin all have a reproducible 10–20% response rate in metastatic melanoma.; however, these responses are often short-lived and almost never complete. Multiple studies have shown that adjuvant radiotherapy improves local recurrence rates in high-risk melanoma patients.

What is adjuvant treatment?

In addition to chemotherapy, adjuvant treatments can include: Hormone therapy is often used for hormone receptor positive cancers. Immunotherapy may be used to help your immune system recognize and fight cancer cells. Radiation therapy can help target a particular tumor or organ.

What is neoadjuvant chemotherapy?

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy means that chemo takes place before the main treatment. The goal is to improve the likelihood that the main treatment, usually surgery or radiation therapy, will be successful. As with adjuvant chemotherapy, there are many factors involved in choosing the timing of neoadjuvant chemo.

Can chemo kill cancer cells?

It’s also important to know that chemo drugs can destroy healthy cells too because traditional chemotherapy does not specifically only target cancer cells.

Is chemo a neoadjuvant?

As with adjuvant chemotherapy, there are many factors involved in choosing the timing of neoadjuvant chemo. Your doctor might recommend neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the following situations: The primary tumor is large or pressing on vital organs, which can make surgery complicated and risky. Chemo may be able to shrink the tumor first so it’s less ...

Can cancer cells be left behind after surgery?

Sometimes cancer cells can be left behind after surgery. It’s also possible that cancer cells may be circulating in your bloodstream or lymphatic system. The traveling cancer cells don’t show up on imaging tests. Without treatment, they can find their way to distant organs to form new tumors.

Can you get chemo for stage 2 colon cancer?

But not all people with stage 2 colon cancer get the same benefit. In stage 2 colon cancer, the use of adjuvant chemo may depend on certain biomarkers. All these factors must be considered when deciding if adjuvant chemo is likely to be beneficial.

Can chemo shrink a tumor?

Chemo may be able to shrink the tumor first so it’s less risky to remove. There’s a chance that cancer cells have broken away from the primary tumor. Any complications from surgery can delay the start of adjuvant chemo. Starting with chemo can prevent tumors from developing in distant organs.

What does adjuvant mean?

adjuvant. [ aj´ah-vant, ă-joo´vant] 1. assisting or aiding. 2. a substance that aids another, such as an auxiliary remedy. Miller-Keane Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health, Seventh Edition. © 2003 by Saunders, an imprint of Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.

What is adjuvant chemotherapy?

1. A treatment that enhances an existing medical regimen, as a pharmacological agent added to a drug to increase or aid its effect. 2. An immunological agent that increases the antigenic response. adj. Contributing to or enhancing an existing medical regimen: adjuvant chemotherapy.

What is an adjuvant in immunology?

adjuvant. Immunology Any nonspecific immune enhancer–eg Freund's adjuvant, BCG vaccine, consisting of a particulate-rich oily substances, which promotes protein aggregation; adjuvant mixed with an antigen acts as a tissue depot, slowly releasing antigen and activating the immune system Oncology The addition of chemotherapy to a traditional ...

What is an antigen?

1. A substance added to a drug product formulation that affects the action of the active ingredient in a predictable way. 2. immunology a vehicle used to enhance antigenicity; for example, a suspension of minerals (alum, aluminum hydroxide, or phosphate) on which antigen is adsorbed; or water-in-oil emulsion in which antigen solution is emulsified ...

What is immunology in medicine?

2. immunology A vehicle used to enhance antigenicity. 3. Additional therapy given to enhance or extend primary therapy's effect, such as in chemotherapy in addition to a surgical regimen. 4.

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Overview

Adjuvant therapy, also known as adjunct therapy, adjuvant care, or augmentation therapy, is therapy that is given in addition to the primary or initial therapy to maximize its effectiveness. The surgeries and complex treatment regimens used in cancer therapyhave led the term to be used mainly to describe adjuvant cancer treatments. An example of such adjuvant therapy is the additional treatment usually given after surgery where all detectable disease has been removed, …

History

The term "adjuvant therapy," derived from the Latin term adjuvāre, meaning "to help," was first coined by Paul Carbone and his team at the National Cancer Institute in 1963. In 1968, the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) published its B-01 trial results for the first randomized trial that evaluated the effect of an adjuvant alkylating agent in breast cancer. The results indicated that the adjuvant therapy given after the initial radical mastectomy "signific…

Neoadjuvant therapy

Neoadjuvant therapy, in contrast to adjuvant therapy, is given before the main treatment. For example, systemic therapy for breast cancer that is given before removal of a breast is considered neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The most common reason for neoadjuvant therapy for cancer is to reduce the size of the tumor so as to facilitate more effective surgery.
In the context of breast cancer, neoadjuvant chemotherapy administered before surgery can imp…

Adjuvant cancer therapy

For example, radiotherapy or systemic therapy is commonly given as adjuvant treatment after surgery for breast cancer. Systemic therapy consists of chemotherapy, immunotherapy or biological response modifiers or hormone therapy. Oncologistsuse statistical evidence to assess the risk of disease relapse before deciding on the specific adjuvant therapy. The aim of adjuvant treatment is to improve disease-specific symptoms and overall survival. Because the treatment is essentiall…

See also

• Analgesic adjuvant

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