A loved one is moving through this pathway now. Its has you said: try all the established drugs first, even if they aren't directly indicated for the cancer diagnosis of the patient, then move on to the more modern and specific treatments once the established medicines have failed.
One problem with that approach is, once the patient has reached the point of several failed treatments, the cancer has possibly become advanced and the patient is worn down by the earlier interventions. In my observation, this confluence makes the newer medicines simultaneously harder for the patient to tolerate but also appear less effective than might've been the case at earlier stages of the disease.
A loved one is moving through this pathway now. Its has you said: try all the established drugs first, even if they aren't directly indicated for the cancer diagnosis of the patient, then move on to the more modern and specific treatments once the established medicines have failed.
One problem with that approach is, once the patient has reached the point of several failed treatments, the cancer has possibly become advanced and the patient is worn down by the earlier interventions. In my observation, this confluence makes the newer medicines simultaneously harder for the patient to tolerate but also appear less effective than might've been the case at earlier stages of the disease.