As you form a partnership with your health care team in planning for treatment of recurrent ovarian cancer, explore strategies that will optimize your overall health, physical functioning, and quality of life with each subsequent treatment regimen. The reason for this is that it is very likely that you will receive many different treatment regimens over the course of your disease. Dr. Deborah Armstrong, an oncologist leading the way in the care of women with ovarian cancer, stated in the May/June 2001 issue of the Coping magazine that “optimizing quality of life is of paramount importance in the planning of any cancer treatment regimen.”
Dr. Armstrong supports the concept that each woman who has ovarian cancer should work with her health care team to develop a plan of care that is individualized to meet her needs. Dr. Armstrong also believes that the treatment plan should be designed to take into account factors such as the woman’s lifestyle, her state of health, previous treatments, and toxicities experienced, just to name a few.
The medications listed in the table below are ones commonly used in the treatment of recurrent ovarian cancer. This does not imply that other medications should not be used; in fact, there are many others that may be useful in certain cases. You should always discuss treatment options and potential side effects with your physician and nurse. It is not possible to elaborate on all potential side effects here because everyone is individually affected by therapy and you may experience side effects that are not listed. While reviewing this table of information, keep in mind that many medications that affect the bone marrow, causing decreases in white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets, are very likely to limit the amount (how much total drug) and duration (how many treatments can be given) of treatment.
View "Chemotherapeutic Strategies for Recurrent Disease" (PDF)
Reprinted with permission from The Wellness Community
The Wellness Community’s Patient Active Guide to Living with Ovarian Cancer
Treatment of Recurrent Disease
Q&A By Deborah Armstrong, M.D., Medical Oncologist at Johns Hopkins
|
