Although it’s not the best experience to think about different types of chemotherapy for breast cancer the good news is that there are several different kinds of options that have high success rates.
If you don’t respond well to one type that doesn’t mean that another one won’t bring the desired results either.
Single-drug therapy
In the majority of the cases the specialists suggest that you take only one chemotherapy drug before you try a combination. This is caused by the fact that you can get the same benefits with the risk of fewer side effects. The drug is recommended based on your health and the kind of cancer you have.
The different methods of chemotherapy for breast cancer include A taxane, Adriamycin, Doxil, Xeloda, Navelbine, and Gemzar.
There are some things that you should take into consideration before deciding on what kind of drug you will take.
One of the things that you should consider regarding different types of chemotherapy for breast cancer is that the cancer could shrink faster if you take Taxol, Taxotere, or Abraxene than when taking Adriamycin. In the same time these drugs cause less vomiting, nausea and mouth sores.
On the other hand, women say that Adriamycin is more efficient than the other drugs.
According to one of the studies Taxol isn’t as efficient as Taxotere when it comes to advanced breast cancer. However Taxotere leads to more side effects.
According to the data regarding different types of chemotherapy for breast cancer, Abraxane is more efficient than Taxol and it has less side effects. The studies suggest that low weekly doses of Abraxane are effective too and they have few side effects.
Combination therapy
When thinking about different solutions of chemotherapy for breast cancer you should know that the ideal combinations attack the different kinds of cells of the cancer. This is because the cancer is made of different kinds of cells that react differently to the drugs administered.
In the same time the chemotherapy for breast cancer should be made of drugs that are efficient together and don’t have overlapping side effects or benefits. The drugs should make it impossible for the cancer cells to protect themselves against the drugs. Also the side effects should be acceptable.
If you talk to your doctor about the different chemotherapy solutions for breast cancer, he or she may recommend you a number of combinations. These include Adriamycin and Taxotere, Adriamycin containing cyclophosphamide with or without Taxotere or Taxol, cyclophosphamide with fluorouracil and methotrexate, cyclophosphamide with fluorouracil and epirubicin, fluorouracil with cyclophosphamide and Adriamycin or Taxotere with Cytoxan and Adriamycin.
As you can see there are many different types of chemotherapy for breast cancer and you also have a word to say in the decisions made. However the best thing you can do is to listen to the advice of your health care provider because he or she knows your case the best.
