What are the various chemotherapy treatment settings?

Primary induction therapy

Chemotherapy administered as the first treatment for patients with advanced cancer in the absence of any alternative treatment options is referred to as primary induction therapy. In advanced cancer, when multiple drugs are useful against cancer, the most effective drugs that are considered to be standard drugs are referred as first-line drug. Drugs used after failure of a first-line agent are known as a second-line drug.

Maintenance chemotherapy

Following induction, the chemotherapy may be continued at lower doses than required for induction therapy until complete remission or disease progression.

Neo-adjuvant chemotherapy

Neo-adjuvant chemotherapy is the use of chemotherapy before local therapy like surgery or radiation therapy in patients who have cancer that has not spread. Neo-adjuvant chemotherapy is expected to shrink the tumor and increase the success rate of the planned local treatment that follows it.

Adjuvant chemotherapy

Chemotherapy given after surgery or radiotherapy to destroy leftover cancerous cells is referred as adjuvant chemotherapy.

Palliative chemotherapy

Palliative chemotherapy is aimed to prolong life and provide improvement in quality of life without any expectation of cure of the cancer.