Doctors in Germany successfully treat even stage 4 stomach cancer. This disease can rarely be cured completely, but modern therapeutic methods and the best doctors in the world can give a person many more years of active life. German Cancer Centers provide stomach cancer treatment stage 4 with innovative drugs. In addition, doctors resort to ablation, embolization, and radiation therapy to suppress metastases.
Drug Treatment
Drug therapy is considered the main treatment method for stage 4 stomach cancer. In most countries, doctors prescribe chemotherapy to their patients. Targeted therapy and immunotherapy are also widely used in Germany. These are new treatments that allow achieving better results with fewer side effects.
The most commonly used drugs for targeted therapy are those targeting HER2. If cancer cells have much of this protein, the tumor is HER2-positive. In this case, doctors prescribe drugs that block HER2 and prevent cancer cells from rapidly dividing. However, the drugs of this pharmacological group can affect the heart’s function. Therefore, before starting treatment, patients undergo ECG and echocardiography.
Modern clinics use antibody-drug conjugates. These are antibodies that target HER2 proteins. Chemotherapy drugs are attached to them. As a result, antibodies injected into the patient’s body deliver drugs directly into the cancer cells. An antibody-drug conjugate is used as a second-line treatment when “conventional” HER2 inhibitors are no longer effective.
Here are some less commonly used drugs for targeted therapy:
- VEGF inhibitors block the growth of blood vessels needed to feed the tumor;
- TRK inhibitors are used in rare cases, in the presence of mutations in one of the NTRK genes.
When dealing with stomach cancer treatment with a high level of microsatellite instability (MSI-H), a defect in the mismatch repair gene (dMMR) and a high mutation burden (TMB-H), German doctors use immune drugs from the group of immune checkpoint inhibitors. They target the PD-1 protein. These drugs do not damage the cells themselves, but they reduce the ability of the tumor to evade the immune response.
Fight Against Metastases
4 stage cancer does not always mean that there are many metastases. Sometimes they are single and can develop even several years after removing the primary tumor. In such situations, doctors may try to destroy the metastases or remove them surgically.
Metastases are often found in the liver. Unfortunately, most patients are too weak to undergo surgery to remove them. But there is a safer method of destroying secondary malignant foci: embolization of metastases. This is a minimally invasive endovascular procedure performed from within the blood vessels, through a small incision in the leg. Doctors deliver microspheres with chemotherapy drugs into the hepatic artery. These tiny balls clog the blood vessels that feed the tumor, depriving it of a source of oxygen and nutrients. Within a few weeks, drugs are released from the microspheres that affect cancer cells. As a result of the procedure, the tumor size is reduced several times, and, in some patients, it can disappear completely.
You can undergo your diagnostics and treatment of stage 4 stomach cancer in Germany. You are welcome to use the Booking Health service to find out information about clinics and make your treatment appointment at the best price. The cost of your treatment will be lower due to the absence of additional taxes for foreign patients. Please leave your request on our website: our specialists will contact you, help you to choose a clinic and arrange your trip to Germany.