Does targeted therapy have side effects?

Targeted therapy is a common treatment method in clinical practice. This treatment is mainly aimed at treating some cancers. The effect of targeted therapy for cancer is more obvious, but not everyone is suitable for targeted therapy. If the treatment is improper, the impact on human health is also very large. It may produce some side effects. Therefore, we must deepen our understanding of the targeted therapy method. So, does targeted therapy have side effects?

1. Function

Targeted therapy only targets cancer cells and has high specificity. Secondly, targeted therapy has fewer side effects than chemotherapy and is a breakthrough in the treatment of breast cancer. However, targeted therapy exerts its advantages on the basis of standard traditional treatment and generally needs to be used in combination with chemotherapy. Therefore, targeted therapy cannot replace chemotherapy, but needs to be used in combination with chemotherapy.

2. Side Effects

The most common side effects of targeted therapy are fever, chills, gastrointestinal reactions when used in combination with chemotherapy, and bone marrow suppression. These symptoms can be resolved through medical treatment and will not affect the continued treatment with targeted drugs. Less than 1% of patients are allergic to trastuzumab components and such patients may discontinue trastuzumab (Herceptin). Symptoms and signs of decreased cardiac function may occur in patients treated with Herceptin. In this case, cardiac ejection fraction assessment should be performed before targeted therapy, and left ventricular ejection fraction should be monitored using echocardiography, and the baseline value of left ventricular ejection fraction should be recorded.

3. Note

During the subsequent targeted treatment, testing will be performed every 3 months. If the ejection fraction is found to have decreased by more than 16%, the testing frequency will need to be increased to once a month. If the left ventricular ejection fraction decreases for more than 8 consecutive weeks, targeted drugs must be discontinued. Such patients are relatively rare in clinical practice, and the benefits of targeted therapy far outweigh the impact of side effects.