COMBINATION CHEMOTHERAPY Meaning and
Definition
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Combination chemotherapy refers to the use of multiple anti-cancer drugs simultaneously or in sequence to treat cancer. It involves the administration of two or more drugs that have different mechanisms of action or target different aspects of the cancer cells to increase treatment efficacy and reduce the chances of drug resistance.
The rationale behind combination chemotherapy is that by using drugs with different mechanisms of action, the treatment can attack cancer cells through multiple pathways, increasing the cell kill rate and hindering the development of drug resistance. Additionally, using drugs with different toxicity profiles can help mitigate adverse side effects and improve patient tolerance.
Combination chemotherapy may be administered as fixed-dose combinations, where all drugs are given at predetermined doses and intervals, or as an adjuvant therapy with different drugs administered sequentially. The choice of combination therapy depends on various factors including the type and stage of cancer, previous treatment history, and individual patient characteristics.
Commonly used combination chemotherapy regimens include ABVD (adriamycin, bleomycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine) for Hodgkin's lymphoma, FOLFOX (folinic acid, fluorouracil, oxaliplatin) for colorectal cancer, and BEACOPP (bleomycin, etoposide, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine, prednisone) for aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphomas.
Overall, combination chemotherapy plays a vital role in the treatment of many cancers, as it strategically combines different drugs to maximize therapeutic benefits and improve patient outcomes.
Common Misspellings for COMBINATION CHEMOTHERAPY
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Etymology of COMBINATION CHEMOTHERAPY
The word "combination chemotherapy" is formed by combining the words "combination" and "chemotherapy".
The term "chemotherapy" originated in the late 19th century from the blending of the Greek word "chemo", meaning "chemical", and the word "therapy", which refers to a treatment or medicinal approach. Chemotherapy originally referred to the use of chemicals to treat diseases. However, over time, it specifically came to denote the treatment of cancer using chemicals.
The word "combination" comes from the Latin word "combinare", which means "to join together". In the context of medicine, "combination" refers to the use of different drugs or therapies together to enhance their effectiveness or target the disease in multiple ways.
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