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Drug treatment

In addition to chemotherapy, there are novel drug therapies: These include targeted therapy approaches and immunotherapy. In all these forms of drug treatments, special active ingredients penetrate the bloodstream and destroy or combat lung cancer.

Chemotherapy

In chemotherapy, so-called cytostatic drugs are used to stop the uncontrolled cell growth of the tumour. In some cases, it can precede surgery to make the tumour easier to operate. This is referred to as neoadjuvant therapy.


After the operation, chemotherapy is usually used to destroy tumour cells that may have remained undetected in the body. This is called adjuvant therapy, i.e. an additional supportive treatment after surgical removal of the tumour.


However, a successful treatment can also consist of a combination of radiation and chemotherapy. Especially in the case of small cell tumours in an early stage, we can treat patients well with radio-chemotherapy.

Targeted therapies - Promising new forms of therapy

Depending on the genetic profile of the tumour, special drugs are available today that act specifically on certain genetic changes (driver mutations) of the tumour. They intervene in the metabolic steps of the tumour and cause the tumour to die. 


Patients in whom the tumour tissue exhibits such molecular biological characteristics benefit from targeted therapy. We can offer such personalized therapies to a proportion of lung cancer patients who cannot be operated on. These include, for example, so-called tyrosine kinase inhibitors for mutations of the growth receptor, also known as EGFR receptor.


Immunotherapy - using the body's own defence

The focus of medical development is also on immunotherapy. Special drugs or antibodies stimulate the body's own immune system to recognize the tumor and destroy it. To strengthen the immune therapy, it can be supplemented by radiation therapy.