oral chemo

Hi.
We have been looking over the net and discovered that there are some oral medications which are better tolerated than chemotherapy? Is my friend’s dad likely to benefit from this?

[riley180]

Hi.
There are indeed 2 well-studied drugs which are orally taken. It is also intriguing, that the drugs seem to favor those who have lung cancer and paradoxically have never smoked. Some other populations favored by these drugs are women and Asian race. At present though, one drug has been pulled out of the market, the second drug is in the market but is indicated after failure of first-line therapy.
First-line therapy means the first kind of chemotherapy received by the patient. If you take the oral drug without going through the first-line drugs (which are cytotoxic), you make a decision that may be more deleterious. In general, best outcomes are determined by what is given from the start. If the patient receives the oral drug and it does not work, the time that has lapsed may make the cancer harder to control even if the treatment is changed in order to use the recommended first-line setting drugs.
Inquire from your doctor if there are ongoing clinical trials, because under these circumstances – the use of newer drugs are more tightly regulated so as to protect the patients from receiving inferior treatments.
My best to you.