Comprehensive rehabilitation of cancer patients receiving immunotherapy

Mochalova Anastasia Sergeevna

Background. The introduction of immuno-oncological drugs into clinical practice has significantly improved the results of treatment of patients. At the moment, the selection of methods for correcting immune-mediated adverse events (iAEs) remains an urgent problem. Due to the large number of observed disorders, patients require specialized rehabilitation programs that can improve the quality of life of patients during and after treatment. Materials and methods. A retrospective study was conducted on the basis of the Department of Antitumor Drug Therapy of the Clinical Hospital No. 1 of MEDSI Group of Companies JSC, which evaluated the results of treatment of 236 patients with oncological diseases of various localization: 62 patients (mean age 64.56 ± 3.23 years), with histologically verified diagnosis of melanoma; 27 patients (mean age 56.70 ± 2.84 years) with histologically confirmed head and neck cancer; 32 patients (mean age 58.56±2.93 years) with gastric cancer, 35 patients (mean age 60.77±3.04 years) with renal cell carcinoma; 42 patients (mean age 62.09±3.1) with lung cancer. A group of 38 people (mean age 58.37 ± 2.92 years) consisted of patients suffering from oncological diseases of other anatomical areas, which were registered in isolated cases (among them - the cervix, bladder, duodenal papilla of Vater, liver, colon intestine, esophagus, anal canal, palatine tonsil, parotid salivary gland, uterine body) who received in the period from 2019 to 2022. immunotherapy. Results. Most often, rehabilitation measures were carried out in the group of patients with melanoma (p<0.05), with lung cancer and kidney cancer. There was an improvement in the quality of life of patients of all groups (p<0.05) after the implementation of rehabilitation measures (exercise therapy, nutritional support, magnetotherapy). Most of the patients of all study groups (p<0.05) were alive at the end of the study: 88.71% of patients with melanoma; 70.37% with head and neck cancer; 71.88% with stomach cancer; 74.29% - with kidney cancer; 73.81% - with lung cancer and 89.47% - with malignant neoplasms of other localizations. In accordance with the data obtained, there was an improvement in the quality of life of patients of all groups after the implementation of rehabilitation measures (exercise therapy, nutritional support, magnetotherapy, psychological support). Conclusion. The results of the use of immunotherapy in combination with a comprehensive rehabilitation program confirms the high efficiency of this group of drugs, combined with good tolerance of rehabilitation treatment procedures that do not worsen the course of the underlying disease. Cancer patients need not only an adequate treatment regimen, but also timely rehabilitation measures, which has a direct impact on the quality of life and overall survival of patients.

Keywords:rehabilitation, immunotherapy, melanoma, quality of life, survival.