Therapeutic targets
- Remission of the tumor (regression of the tumor).
- Healing
Therapy recommendations
In pharmacological cancer therapy, many other procedures are now used in addition to chemotherapy. In this context, each patient receives treatment tailored to his or her individual situation. The following is a brief list of these:
- Anti-hormone therapy (hormone therapy).
- Immunotherapy (monoclonal antibodies).
- Blood stem cell and bone marrow transplantation.
- Chemotherapy (see below)
- See also under “Further notes”
Chemotherapy (synonym: cytostatic therapy) in the narrow sense refers to the therapy of tumor diseases with cytostatic drugs. This is carried out, if necessary, depending on the type of tumor and tumor stage. Chemotherapy is intended to selectively “kill” tumor cells. This “selective toxicity” was first postulated by Paul Ehrlich, the “inventor of chemotherapy”. Chemotherapy is called adjuvant if it is used to ensure success after complete surgical removal of the tumor. Neoadjuvant is chemotherapy before surgery. Very often, adjuvant, neoadjuvant, or chemotherapy alone is combined with radiotherapy (radiation therapy). Most chemotherapeutic agents take advantage of the tumor cells’ rapid ability to divide, as they are more sensitive than healthy cells to disruptions in cell division. However, they exert a similar effect on healthy cells with a similarly good ability to divide. Cells of the mucous membranes, the hematopoietic bone marrow (anemia), the immune system and the hair roots (alopecia) are particularly sensitive.
General notice:
- Refrain from tobacco use due toweakening the effect of cytostatic therapy.
Side effects of chemotherapy in most cases are:
- Anemia
- Alopecia
- Mucosal inflammation (stomatitis, esophagitis, gastritis, enteritis, diverticulitis, proctitis).
- Loss of appetite
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Abdominal pain
- Ileus
- Liver dysfunction
- Malabsorption
Tolerance to chemotherapy is highly dependent on the patient’s initial condition – physical fitness, general lifestyle and attitude to therapy.
Subsequent treatment-related functional impairment, which requires rehabilitation and thus may require pharmacotherapy and nutritional therapy:
- Chronic fatigue
- Cognitive dysfunction
- Reduction of muscular strength
- Hormone withdrawal syndrome
- Reactive depression and adjustment disorders to malignant disease.
- Skin lesions
- Cardiac dysfunction
- Peripheral polyneuropathy (disorders of peripheral nerves or parts of nerves).
Other notes
- The combination of syrosingopine with metformin has shown surprisingly good anti-cancer activity in preclinical studies[1].
- Approach: cancer cells have a high energy demand and therefore need to continuously produce NAD+ from NADHMechanism: both syrosingopine and metformin prevent the regeneration of NAD+:
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- Syrosingopine by inhibiting lactate transporters → lactate concentration in the cell ↑ → recycling on NAD+ is stopped.
- Metformin blocks the second pathway of regeneration of NAD+.
- Disulfiram targets tumor cells via P97 segregase adaptor NPL4.