Not every cancer can be cured – but it is almost always possible to help the patient feel better and enjoy a good quality of life for longer. This is what metronomic therapy and palliative care are for.
What is metronomic chemotherapy?
This involves giving small doses of anticancer drugs – usually by mouth, every day or every other day – over a long period, at home. Unlike conventional chemotherapy, its aim is not to directly destroy as many cancer cells as possible, but to limit the formation of the blood vessels that feed the tumour and to support the immune response. It is often combined with a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug.
Metronomic therapy is usually very well tolerated. However, it requires regular follow-up blood and urine tests.
When is it used?
- after the main treatment (surgery, chemotherapy) has finished, to delay recurrence or metastases,
- when intensive chemotherapy is not possible because of the patient’s health,
- when the owner cannot regularly bring the pet to the clinic for infusions,
- in advanced disease – as a way to slow its progression.
Oral targeted drugs can play a similar role, e.g. toceranib, which was the basis of the long-term treatment of Pele.
Palliative care – comfort above all
When a cure is not possible, the goal of treatment becomes the patient’s comfort. Palliative care includes:
- pain management – choosing suitable painkillers and, in selected cases, palliative radiotherapy, e.g. for painful bone tumours,
- support for appetite and nutrition – preventing cancer-related wasting (cachexia), which you can read more about in the FAQ,
- control of nausea, vomiting and other symptoms of the disease,
- palliative chemotherapy – slowing the progression of the disease, as in the case of Czaruś,
- regular assessment of quality of life and conversations with the owner about the decisions ahead – including the most difficult ones.
My role is not only to treat the patient, but also to support their owners through the difficult period of the illness.