When most people receive a cancer diagnosis, they would be forgiven for wanting their doctors to be all in, no matter how grueling the treatment.
But a growing number of studies show that this approach can not only make you sicker, it could even shorten your life.
Three intriguing papers presented at the world’s most influential cancer conference last month suggested that lLess aggressive chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery really helped people with cancer feel healthier longer.
For those suffering from some types of disease, gentler treatments also led to longer life.
A number of intriguing studies have found that patients with ovarian, blood and esophageal cancer do better with less aggressive treatment; some even live longer.
Cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy drugs that destroy the immune system and radiation that can damage surrounding tissue, can cause serious complications.
What’s more, highly invasive surgeries to remove body parts can cause infections and blood loss.
Experts suggest that minimizing treatment can reduce the risk of complications and potentially fatal side effects. It also means that patients are well enough to adopt healthy lifestyle habits, such as exercising regularly, which is also important for surviving cancer.
The three studies, conducted by experts from France, Germany and the United States, concerned specifically esophageal and ovarian cancer, as well as lymphoma, a blood cancer. Associated Press reported.
The first study, which investigated 438 patients with esophageal cancer, found that those treated with surgery, radiation and chemotherapy fared worse than those who underwent surgery and chemotherapy alone.
The graph, from a Stanford University study, shows the increase in women undergoing lumpectomies, rather than masectomies, over the past 40 years.
After three years, 57 percent of patients who received the gentler treatment were alive compared with 51 percent of those who received the aggressive regimen, the German Research Foundation found.
The second analysis, involving 379 ovarian cancer patients, found that preserving healthy lymph nodes resulted in fewer complications compared to those who had their glands removed to ensure that all remaining cancer cells were destroyed.
The third paper compared two cycles of chemotherapy for 1,482 patients with Hodgkin lymphoma, a blood cancer, and was conducted by Takeda Oncology in nine European countries.
It found that 94 percent of people with the least aggressive treatment went into remission after four years, compared to 91 percent of people with the most severe treatment.
It is a modern treatment approach adopted by an increasing number of doctors around the world.
Breast cancer, for example, is often treated today by first removing the cancerous lump and surrounding tissue, rather than removing the entire breast.
The graphs show that lung cancer patients who receive chemotherapy before surgery may not be more likely to survive long-term, compared to those who receive powerful drugs.
TO series of studies Studies over the past decade have found that patients who had part of their breast removed lived as long as patients who had a masectomy.
Additionally, those who had a mastectomy were more likely to suffer infections, develop chronic pain, and lose a dangerous amount of blood than people who just had their tumors removed. Dr. Cristina Pestana said a 2022 breast surgical oncology fellow.
Studies of patients with colorectal cancer have found that three months of chemotherapy resulted in the same prognosis as those who underwent six months of chemotherapy.
And this year’s data, reported in the journal Annals of Thoracic Surgery, showed that patients with the most common form of lung cancer live longer, on average, if they do not undergo chemotherapy before surgery to remove tumors, in comparison with those to do.
“In this case, less clarity is more,” Dr. David Ilsona gastrointestinal oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York wrote in 2018.
Experts say most studies show little difference in life expectancy between approaches, but large increases in quality of life with less aggressive treatment.
Switching to a less-is-more approach for all cancers could be a ‘game changer,’ says Dr. James Gulley, the co-director of the Cancer Research Center of the National Cancer Institute.
However, he added that more research is needed to identify the best candidates for this approach and how best to follow patients after they stop treatment.