Parotid gland cancer treatment with chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is not very often used for patients with parotid gland cancer. In most cases, chemotherapy becomes a method of choice for patients who can’t achieve good results with surgical treatment or radiation therapy or when cancer spreads to distant organs (metastasized). Still, verifying the diagnosis and undergoing a general health check-up before further treatment is necessary. Many medications are currently used for chemotherapy in patients with parotid gland cancer, including methotrexate, vinorelbine, paclitaxel, cisplatin, epirubicin, and many others. Also, doctors often might prescribe a mix of a few drugs as a part of a single chemotherapy course. Chemotherapy also shows promising results as a part of combined therapy, namely in tandem with radiation therapy. A single treatment session might take up to four hours, as drugs are slowly delivered via dropper or intravenous injection. On average, the patient might require up to 4-8 courses of chemotherapy to get sustainable positive results. Medical practitioners might consider installing a chemotherapy port to help deliver medication appropriately, as installing a dropper might be problematic for certain patients.