What medicines to take after bile duct cancer surgery

Because of its viciousness, bile duct cancer often causes severe psychological trauma to patients. It is generally treated with surgery. Postoperative chemotherapy for bile duct cancer is also very important. Many patients also want to know about some of its commonly used chemotherapy drugs. So, what drugs should be taken after bile duct cancer surgery? Let's take a look.

1. Therapeutic chemotherapy for advanced cholangiocarcinoma

Commonly used chemotherapy drugs are similar to those for other gastrointestinal cancers, mainly fluorouracil (5-FU), doxorubicin (ADM), mitomycin (MMC) and nitrosourea. It can be applied systemically or through arterial catheterization. Since the blood supply of the bile duct comes from the hepatic artery, arterial chemotherapy may have better efficacy than the former. Some studies have indeed shown that chemotherapy may relieve the symptoms caused by bile duct cancer, improve the quality of life of patients, and may also prolong survival. One group reported 49 patients, with fluorouracil as the main chemotherapy drug, and another group of 41 patients only received general care. 36% of the treated group, while only 10% of the untreated group had a high-quality life extension of 4 months. The median survival of the former was 6 months, while the latter was only 2.5 months.

2. Chemotherapy-assisted surgery for cholangiocarcinoma

Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy is to first apply chemotherapy and radiotherapy to solid tumors, followed by surgery, and then adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy after surgery. The theoretical basis is to perform effective combined chemotherapy before surgery or radiotherapy to kill a large number of sensitive tumor cells and reduce the activity of tumor cells, and then use surgical resection or radiotherapy to destroy the remaining cancer cells, including those that are insensitive to chemotherapy, to achieve the purpose of curing the tumor. Some scholars have used this regimen to treat hilar cholangiocarcinoma, usually intravenous infusion of fluorouracil for 5 days before surgery, and then external radiation therapy to the tumor site (1.8Gy/d, total dose not exceeding 50Gy). As a result, the surgical resection rate was increased, the residual rate of cancer cells under the microscope at the bile duct resection margin was reduced, and local recurrence was reduced, but there is no conclusion on whether it can improve the survival rate.

3. Combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy for cholangiocarcinoma

The use of some recognized radiosensitizers such as fluorouracil can improve the efficacy of radiotherapy. In vitro and animal experimental studies on the killing effect of molecular chemotherapy and radiosensitization on cholangiocarcinoma cells have achieved satisfactory experimental results, providing a new approach for the comprehensive treatment of cholangiocarcinoma. Minsky used fluorouracil and mitomycin in synergistic radiotherapy: the irradiation dose of the tumor bed and lymph nodes was 50Gy, and most patients also received 15Gy intracavitary radiotherapy. All patients were able to tolerate it, and the 3-year survival rate reached 50%. There is also the use of external radiotherapy and fluorouracil chemotherapy after surgery to reduce the radiotherapy dose.

4. Combination of chemotherapy and traditional Chinese medicine for cholangiocarcinoma

A large number of clinical practices have proved that high-dose radiotherapy and chemotherapy for patients in the middle and late stages, or chemotherapy again for patients with drug resistance, can only make the weak life more critical and accelerate the death of the patient. It is often seen in the clinic that the cause of death of the patient is not caused by the disease itself, but by unscientific and inappropriate lethal treatment. Therefore, if chemotherapy can be used in combination with Chinese medicine that can improve immunity, it can reduce the toxic and side effects of chemotherapy. For example, ginsenoside Rh2 not only has an immunomodulatory effect, but also has the effect of inhibiting the growth and spread of cancer cells, inducing cancer cell apoptosis, and reversing the abnormality of cancer cells. It can be used with chemotherapy to enhance the effect and reduce toxicity.

The above is an introduction to what medications to take after bile duct cancer surgery. I hope it will be helpful to you.