Ovarium Cancer Recurrence Opponents Continue: The Key To Extending Disease-Free Period To Years!

Illustration of ovarian cancer (Unsplash)

JAKARTA - ovarian cancer or egg cancer is still a scourge for women in Indonesia. Often, this disease has only been detected in advanced stages (stadium 3 or 4) because its initial symptoms are not specific similar to ordinary stomach pain, such as bloating or bloating.

Although it has undergone surgery to remove tumors and chemotherapy, the rate of recurrence of ovarian cancer remains high, especially in the first three years. The good news is that advances in medical science now offer very effective further steps to "lock down" remissions and extend the disease-free period: Maintenance Therapy or Maintenance Therapy. Maintenance Therapy.

Two Main Foundations For Ovarium Cancer Treatment

The successful treatment of ovarian cancer relies heavily on two perfect first steps:

1. Join "Zero Residu"

This is the most crucial step. Doctors must try to remove the tumor so that no tumor remnant is visible (reduciblezero). Research proves, the fewer tumor residues, the higher the chance patients have to survive and achieve long-term remissions.

2. Scheduled Chemotherapy

After surgery, patients need to undergo chemotherapy to kill the remaining cancer cells that may be circulating. It is important for patients to complete the chemotherapy session according to schedule so that their effectiveness is maximized.

After Remission, What's The Next Step?

This is a crucial phase. Recurrence ovarian cancer is often more difficult to treat. This is where maintenance therapy (Maintenance Therapy) comes in.

Key Tests: HRD And BRCA ( Cancer DNA Check)

Guidelines for handling international ovarian cancer now recommend two important tests that must be carried out as early as possible after surgery:

Function Test

BRCA (Breast Cancer gene 1 & 2) Detects congenital genetic mutations that make cancer cells vulnerable.

HRD (Homologous Recombination Deficiency) Detects conditions where cancer cells cannot repair their own DNA damage.

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Both of these tests serve as "roadmaps" to determine the most appropriate types of advanced Ovarium Cancer Therapy. Patients who have HRD-positive results (about 50% of the total follow-up cases) are considered to be very suitable for subsequent innovative therapies.

Maintenance Therapy: "Security Lock" Long-Term Remission

Maintenance Therapy (Terapi Maintenance) is a follow-up step given to patients who have reached post-chemotherapy remission. The purpose of this therapy is to prevent sleeping cancer cells from becoming active again.

This therapy is not recurrent chemotherapy, but the use of more specific drugs, namely PARP Inhibitor (example: Olaparib). This drug works by utilizing the weaknesses of cancer cells (which have been detected through HRD or BRCA tests) to destroy them.

The benefits of this maintenance therapy have been clinically tested and are considered very important to improve the quality of life of patients in Indonesia.

Access to HRD examinations and maintenance therapy for ovarian cancer patients in Indonesia is very important. Global clinical data have proven the significant benefits of this therapy in extending the disease-free period. We hope that more patients in Indonesia can benefit from maintenance therapy, so that their quality of life will be better," said dr. Feddy, Medical Director of AstraZeneca Indonesia.

Clinical Data That Strengthens

Some of the world's largest clinical studies have proven the significant benefits of the PARP Inhibitor in maintenance therapy:

The HRD-positive patients who receive this therapy can extend the disease-free period to 37 months longer than without standard therapy.

For patients with BRCA mutations, this therapy is proven to reduce the risk of recurrence by up to 70%.