The following forms of low-dose chemotherapy have been proposed. They are not always widely available treatments at hospitals.
Oral low-dose chemotherapy
Patients are given chemotherapy drugs orally very frequently. This approach can be very effective for some cancers and can minimize side effects for some people. More patients are using oral chemotherapy than ever before. [2] [3]
Oral administration is a route of administration where a substance is taken through the mouth. Per os (P.O.) is sometimes used as an abbreviation for medication to be taken orally. Many medications are taken orally because they are intended to have a systemic effect, reaching different parts of the body via the bloodstream, for example.
Low-dose chemotherapy and antiangiogenesis
Adam Dicker, an associate professor at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, supports that chemotherapy is often used in the highest possible doses. They are rethinking chemotherapy because of the antiangiogenic effects of low dose chemotherapy given on a more frequent basis than conventional chemotherapy. They have shown excellent antiangiogenic results in the laboratory. [1]
Angiogenesis is the physiological process through which new blood vessels form from pre-existing vessels, formed in the earlier stage of vasculogenesis. Angiogenesis continues the growth of the vasculature by processes of sprouting and splitting. Vasculogenesis is the embryonic formation of endothelial cells from mesoderm cell precursors, and from neovascularization, although discussions are not always precise. The first vessels in the developing embryo form through vasculogenesis, after which angiogenesis is responsible for most, if not all, blood vessel growth during development and in disease.
Insulin potentiation therapy low-dose chemotherapy
Although yet to be proven, insulin potentiation therapy (IPT) proponents suggest that insulin modifies cancer cells receptivity to being penetrated by the chemotherapy. Cancer cells secrete their own insulin and insulin-like growth factor (IGF) which work together to consume the body's nutrients to grow cancer. Cancer cell membranes have about sixteen times more insulin and IGF receptors than normal cells, and these receptors react with synthetic insulin. When insulin is administered, the cancer starves for glucose and generates enzyme activity that makes the cell membrane more permeable. The chemotherapy drug gets absorbed by the cancer. By using the very same mechanisms that cancer cells use to grow and kill people, proponents believe IPT channels the chemotherapy drug directly inside the cancer cells leaving normal cells alone. [4] [5]
Insulin potentiation therapy (IPT) is an unproven alternative cancer treatment using insulin as an adjunct to low-dose chemotherapy.
The insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) are proteins with high sequence similarity to insulin. IGFs are part of a complex system that cells use to communicate with their physiologic environment. This complex system consists of two cell-surface receptors, two ligands, a family of six high-affinity IGF-binding proteins, as well as associated IGFBP degrading enzymes, referred to collectively as proteases.
The cell membrane is a biological membrane that separates the interior of all cells from the outside environment which protects the cell from its environment consisting of a lipid bilayer with embedded proteins. The cell membrane controls the movement of substances in and out of cells and organelles. In this way, it is selectively permeable to ions and organic molecules. In addition, cell membranes are involved in a variety of cellular processes such as cell adhesion, ion conductivity and cell signalling and serve as the attachment surface for several extracellular structures, including the cell wall, the carbohydrate layer called the glycocalyx, and the intracellular network of protein fibers called the cytoskeleton. In the field of synthetic biology, cell membranes can be artificially reassembled.
Insulin therapy is not the same as IPT low-dose chemotherapy. Insulin on its own modulates the transportation of nutrients and more throughout the body. There have been several attempts to use insulin in a variety functions that have proven ill-advised. In biological cancer therapies, an insulin potentiation therapy can be used to administer mandelonitrile (B17) as a pre step to an IPT low-dose Chemotherapy. [6]
In organic chemistry, mandelonitrile is the nitrile of mandelic acid, or the cyanohydrin derivative of benzaldehyde. Small amounts of mandelonitrile occur in the pits of some fruits.
Experimental cancer treatments are non-medical therapies intended to treat cancer by improving on, supplementing or replacing conventional methods. Experimental cancer treatments cannot make medical claims. The term experimental cancer treatment could thus be substituted for "non FDA approved cancer treatment."
An antiemetic is a drug that is effective against vomiting and nausea. Antiemetics are typically used to treat motion sickness and the side effects of opioid analgesics, general anaesthetics, and chemotherapy directed against cancer. They may be used for severe cases of gastroenteritis, especially if the patient is dehydrated.
Itraconazole is an antifungal medication used to treat a number of fungal infections. This includes aspergillosis, blastomycosis, coccidioidomycosis, histoplasmosis, and paracoccidioidomycosis. It may be given by mouth or intravenously.
Trastuzumab, sold under the brand name Herceptin among others, is a monoclonal antibody used to treat breast cancer. Specifically it is used for breast cancer that is HER2 receptor positive. It may be used by itself or together with other chemotherapy medication. Trastuzumab is given by slow injection into a vein and injection just under the skin.
Hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia describes the condition and effects of low blood glucose caused by excessive insulin. Hypoglycemia due to excess insulin is the most common type of serious hypoglycemia. It can be due to endogenous or injected insulin.
Dolasetron (trade name Anzemet) is a serotonin 5-HT3 receptor antagonist used to treat nausea and vomiting following chemotherapy. Its main effect is to reduce the activity of the vagus nerve, which is a nerve that activates the vomiting center in the medulla oblongata. It does not have much antiemetic effect when symptoms are due to motion sickness. This drug does not have any effect on dopamine receptors or muscarinic receptors.
A chemotherapy regimen is a regimen for chemotherapy, defining the drugs to be used, their dosage, the frequency and duration of treatments, and other considerations. In modern oncology, many regimens combine several chemotherapy drugs in combination chemotherapy. The majority of drugs used in cancer chemotherapy are cytostatic, many via cytotoxicity.
Palifermin is a truncated human recombinant keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) produced in Escherichia coli. KGF stimulates the growth of cells that line the surface of the mouth and intestinal tract.
Sunitinib is an oral, small-molecule, multi-targeted receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) inhibitor that was approved by the FDA for the treatment of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and imatinib-resistant gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) on January 26, 2006. Sunitinib was the first cancer drug simultaneously approved for two different indications.
Estramustine phosphate (EMP), also known as estradiol normustine phosphate and sold under the brand names Emcyt and Estracyt, is a dual estrogen and chemotherapy medication which is used in the treatment of prostate cancer in men. It is taken multiple times a day by mouth or by injection into a vein.
Lapatinib (INN), used in the form of lapatinib ditosylate (USAN) is an orally active drug for breast cancer and other solid tumours. It is a dual tyrosine kinase inhibitor which interrupts the HER2/neu and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) pathways. It is used in combination therapy for HER2-positive breast cancer. It is used for the treatment of patients with advanced or metastatic breast cancer whose tumors overexpress HER2 (ErbB2).
A medical procedure is a course of action intended to achieve a result in the delivery of healthcare.
Breast cancer management takes different approaches depending on physical and biological characteristics of the disease, as well as the age, over-all health and personal preferences of the patient. Treatment types can be classified into local therapy and systemic treatment. Local therapy is most efficacious in early stage breast cancer, while systemic therapy is generally justified in advanced and metastatic disease, or in diseases with specific phenotypes.
Enzalutamide, sold under the brand name Xtandi, is a nonsteroidal antiandrogen (NSAA) medication which is used in the treatment of prostate cancer. It is indicated for use in conjunction with castration in the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) and nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. It is taken by mouth.
Medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw is progressive death of the jawbone in a person exposed to a medications known to increase the risk of disease, in the absence of a previous radiation treatment. It may lead to surgical complication in the form of impaired wound healing following oral and maxillofacial surgery, periodontal surgery, or endodontic therapy.
Cixutumumab (IMC-A12) is a human monoclonal antibody for the treatment of solid tumors.
Cancer can be treated by surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormonal therapy, targeted therapy and synthetic lethality. The choice of therapy depends upon the location and grade of the tumor and the stage of the disease, as well as the general state of the patient. A number of experimental cancer treatments are also under development. Under current estimates, two in five people will have cancer at some point in their lifetime.
Nintedanib, marketed under the brand names Ofev and Vargatef, is an oral medication used for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and along with other medications for some types of non-small-cell lung cancer.
