What is "salvage therapy"

n. (context medicine English) A more drastic form of treatment given when an ailment (especially HIV or a tumour) does not respond to standard treatment.

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 and various tumors. The word 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.