Salvage therapy, also known as rescue therapy, is a form of
therapy given after an ailment does not respond to standard therapy. The most common diseases that require salvage therapy are
HIV
The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immu ...
and various
cancers. The term is not clearly defined; it is used both to mean a second attempt and a final attempt. Salvage therapy drugs or drug combinations have, in general, much more severe side effects than the standard line of therapy. This is often true of a
drug of last resort.
Uses
HIV
Antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) are given to slow down the HIV reproduction, which in turn increases quality of life and survival. If the patient's viral load (the amount of HIV in the blood) rebounds after being suppressed by ARVs, the virus has likely developed
resistance
Resistance may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Comics
* Either of two similarly named but otherwise unrelated comic book series, both published by Wildstorm:
** ''Resistance'' (comics), based on the video game of the same title
** ''T ...
to the ARVs. As more and more mutations conferring drug resistance develop in the HIV's genome, it becomes difficult to select an ARV that will meaningfully suppress HIV replication and keep the patient's viral load low. Salvage therapy, in this context, is the attempt to contain the replicating HIV once the usual line of treatments have been exhausted. When at least one regimen containing
protease inhibitors has failed in a patient, the subsequent attempts to treat the HIV infection may be referred to as salvage therapy.
Cancers
Salvage chemotherapy is a treatment that is given after the cancer has not responded to other
chemotherapy regimens.
NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms
/ref>
See also
* Heroic measure
In medicine, heroic treatment or course of therapy is one which possesses a high risk of causing further damage to a patient's health, but is undertaken as a last resort with the understanding that any lesser treatment will surely result in failu ...
* Linda Grinberg
References
{{reflist
Medical treatments