The phrase
"to shrink the tumor" means to make the abnormal growth in the body, called a tumor, become smaller in size. It can be done using different treatments like medications, radiation, or surgery. The goal is to reduce the size of the tumor to minimize its effects on the body.
Full definition
Although the drugs slow or
shrink the tumor for a while, they almost invariably stop working, sometimes after only a few months.
In certain cases, chemotherapy or radiation therapy might be recommended before surgery in order to
shrink the tumor so it can be removed more easily.
It seems to exploit many biochemical pathways to
shrink tumors of various types, or to keep them from growing in the first place.
This could
help shrink the tumor and prevent it from growing further while decreasing pain and inflammation.
In Cohort A, pembrolizumab
shrunk tumors by more than 30 percent in eight of 170 patients, or five percent, and stabilized the disease in 35, or 21 percent, of those previously treated for mTNBC.
But in an ironic — and potentially beneficial — twist, the researchers also showed that if they treated the mice's tumors with drugs that damage DNA, they could actually
shrink tumors more effectively and improve survival.This genetic instability accelerated tumor growth and reduced the survival of mice that went without treatment.
Although BRAF inhibitors rapidly and
effectively shrink tumors, their success is limited because most tumors become resistant to the drugs within a few months.
The firm had even more positive results to present at the convention, announcing that
Tecentriq shrunk tumors in 24 % of advanced bladder cancer patients who couldn't use standard chemotherapy in a mid-stage trial.
Roughly a decade ago Pfizer (PFE) developed a drug based on an antibody that it, too, licensed from Medarex — but gave up on it, says Allison, when the drug didn't
immediately shrink tumors.
The targeted
radiotherapy shrank tumors for 71 % of patients who had already failed standard chemotherapy, but these results came from a small trial that started with 30 patients and then added another 20 after positive data started rolling in.
While most of these claims were unfounded, radium treatment could
often shrink tumors, extending the lives of cancer patients.
The treatment's effect on the original tumor was less dramatic, but still impressive: The combination of Listeria and
radiation shrank the tumor by 64 %, and Listeria alone by about 20 % compared with saline - treated mice.
For example, drugs that target a specific BRAF gene mutation commonly found in
melanoma shrink tumors in about half of patients with the mutation.
The targeted particles with the
passports shrank tumors by 25 % in a single day, while nanoparticles with the antibodies but without the peptide passports had no effect on the tumor size.
In any case, she and Yang have found that a week of gene shots three to five times daily not
only shrinks the tumors but lengthens the lives of the mice.
Developing a way to turn COX - 2 back on in advanced colon, breast, and pancreatic cancers might help the immune
system shrink tumors.
«This work extends our previous work demonstrating that these particles were effective in
shrinking tumor tissue in a petri dish.
A $ 2 million, seven - year clinical study funded by the National Institutes of Health and jointly conducted by the University of Minnesota and Bastyr University showed that Trametes versicolor, or turkey tail mushroom, in freeze - dried form, dramatically boosts immune function for women with Stage I - III breast cancer ─
possibly shrinking tumors.
The cancer society says that hyperthermia can
shrink tumors when used with other treatments and decrease the cancer toxic load.
In this case, reduced doses of radiation therapy called palliative radiation therapy may be used to
shrink the tumor enough to relieve signs of pain or discomfort for a period of time.
According to the National Cancer Institute, radiation therapy
helps shrink tumors so the pressure and the pain resulting from that pressure are relieved in the patient.
She went for her breast surgeon's suggestion instead — to try to
shrink the tumor with chemotherapy to make it small enough for a lumpectomy.