What is Neo-Adjuvant?

Advantages of Neo-Adjuvant

1.  Helps in shrinking the tumor which facilitates local treatment like Surgery and radiation and improves the outcome.
2. Can convert locally advanced inoperable tumors to operable or help facilitate organ sparing/ limb salvage surgeries.
3. Helps to assess the biology of disease and assess the response of the tumor to chemotherapy and accordingly give the opportunity to modify treatment if required.
4. Achieving complete pathological response i.e finding no viable tumor in the surgical specimen has been found to translate into better survival in many cancers.

The most common use of Neo-Adjuvant Chemotherapy

1.  Breast cancers
2. Ovarian cancers
3. Esophageal/Gastric/Rectal cancer
4.  Urinary Bladder cancers( Muscle invasive)
5. Bony Sarcomas ( Osteosarcoma/Ewings Sarcoma)
6. selected head and neck cancers
7. Lung Cancers

Dr. Rahul Kulkarni

Dr. Rahul  Kulkarni consultant Medical-Oncologist in Pune. He has done his MD Medicine from prestigious B.J.Medical College and Sassoon Hospital, Pune and has done his DM in Medical and Pediatric Oncology and Hemat-oncology from Gujarat Cancer Research Institute, Ahmedabad which is an Apex Regional Cancer Center in India and one of the largest cancer center in Asia. He has pursued a post-graduate diploma in Geriatric Medicine(PGDGM) from IGNOU, New Delhi. He has also cleared ESMO Examination and has received European Society certification in Medical Oncology(ECMO). Dr. Rahul has presented various papers and has numerous publications in national and international journals. His areas of special interest include breast cancer, lung, colon, and GI cancers, neuroendocrine tumors, gynecological and genitourinary/prostate cancers, lymphoma, myeloma, and other hematolymphoid malignancies.