When is chemotherapy used

A chemotherapy regimen is usually given in cycles. A regimen is the specific combination of chemotherapy medicines you will receive at this stage of treatment and the number of cycles you will receive it. Your regimen may change over time as the doctors and nurses see how your body reacts to the different medicines. Some patients may have to adjust their regimen several times before they find one that works best for them.

The other term often used when talking about chemotherapy is cycle. A cycle of chemotherapy is repeating the way a drug or a group of drugs is given over a specific number of days. For example, one cycle may be taking the drug for every day the first week and then taking the next week off. The team takes all these factors into account, along with information from research studies published in medical journals and textbooks describing the outcomes of similar patients treated with chemo.

Most chemotherapy chemo drugs are strong medicines that have a fairly narrow range for dose safety and effectiveness. Taking too little of a drug will not treat the cancer well and taking too much may cause life-threatening side effects. For this reason, doctors must calculate chemo doses very carefully. Depending on the drug s to be given, there are different ways to determine chemo doses. Most chemo drugs are measured in milligrams mg. Some chemo doses are determined based on body surface area BSA , which are calculated using height and weight.

BSA is expressed in meters squared m 2. Children may have different levels of sensitivity to the drugs, too. Besides doses being different for children, dosages of some drugs may also be adjusted for people who:. Chemotherapy is commonly given at regular intervals called cycles. A cycle may be a dose of one or more drugs on one or more days, followed by several days or weeks without treatment. This gives normal cells time to recover from drug side effects.

Sometimes, doses may be given a certain number of days in a row, or every other day for several days, followed by a period of rest. Some drugs work best when given continuously over a set number of days. Each drug is given on a schedule that makes the most of its anti-cancer actions and minimizes side effects. If more than one drug is used, the treatment plan will say how often and exactly when each drug should be given.

The number of cycles given may be decided before treatment starts, based on the type and stage of cancer. For example, to treat cancers of the blood or lymphatic system, such as leukemia and lymphoma.

The goals of chemotherapy depend on the type of cancer and how far it has spread. Sometimes, the goal of treatment is to get rid of all the cancer and keep it from coming back. If this is not possible, you might receive chemotherapy to delay or slow cancer growth. Delaying or slowing cancer growth with chemotherapy also helps manage symptoms caused by the cancer.

Chemotherapy given with the goal of delaying cancer growth is sometimes called palliative chemotherapy.

There are many drugs available to treat cancer. A doctor who specializes in treating cancer with medication, called a medical oncologist, will prescribe your chemotherapy. You may receive a combination of drugs, because this sometimes works better than only 1 drug. The tumor size, its location, and if or where it has spread. This is called the stage of cancer. Your body weight. Your health care team may give you chemotherapy at the clinic, doctor's office, or hospital.

Some types of chemotherapy are given by mouth, and these can be taken at home. Chemotherapy is often given for a specific time, such as 6 months or a year. Or you might receive chemotherapy for as long as it works. Side effects from many drugs are too severe to give treatment every day.

Doctors usually give these drugs with breaks, so you have time to rest and recover before the next treatment. This lets your healthy cells heal. For example, you might get a dose of chemotherapy on the first day and then have 3 weeks of recovery time before repeating the treatment. Each 3-week period is called a treatment cycle. Several cycles make up a course of chemotherapy. A course usually lasts 3 months or more. Some cancers are treated with less recovery time between cycles.

This is called a dose-dense schedule. It can make chemotherapy more effective against some cancers. But it also increases the risk of side effects. Talk with your health care team about the best schedule for you. Intravenous IV chemotherapy. Many drugs require injection directly into a vein. This is called intravenous or IV chemotherapy. Treatment takes a few minutes to a few hours. Some IV drugs work better if you get them over a few days or weeks.

You take them through a small pump you wear or carry. This is called continuous infusion chemotherapy. Oral chemotherapy.