Chemotherapy

Chop Chemotherapy: Specific remedy for cancer

The question arises as what exactly is CHOP chemotherapy. It is actually a process of chemotherapy that is used to treat certain type of cancer. The drugs that are used in the therapy are as follows:- Cyclophosphamide, Doxorubicin Hydrochloride, Oncovin and Prednisolone. Let us gather some information about this particular type of therapy. Each person reacts to chemotherapy in a different way. Some experience more side effects while some may experience few.

The doctors should be made aware of the side effects that a patient may have. This helps them in giving the drugs after taking necessary steps. After the CHOP chemotherapy is administered, treatment is given to lessen the side effects. The patient should visit the doctor regularly so that the doctor can keep a check on the side effects and give medicines accordingly.

A patient is administered CHOP chemotherapy after every third week. The therapy can be administered in the hospital’s outpatient department only. The treatment continues for eighteen weeks and generally has 6 cycles of treatment. The injection is given after a combination of the above mentioned drugs with the help of a cannula. The medicine is administered into the arm. It is injected in then vein. The medicine prednisolone (P) is taken orally and has to be taken for 4 times a day. CHOP is actually an abbreviated form of the medicines that are administered during the therapy.

Apart from prednisolone which is taken as tablet, the other mentioned medicines arte taken as injection into the veins. Each session of the CHOP chemotherapy is repeated after three weeks and are stretched over a period of 7-8 weeks. The exact course of treatment is decided when a number of factors are taken into consideration. The important decision is taken on the basis of the stage of the disease. It also depends upon a number of tests.

Any person who undergoes CHOP chemotherapy experiences fatigue all the time. One cannot indulge in heavy exercises. Gentle and short exercises are advised. After the chemotherapy is given to the patient the fatigue can last for three months. A patient may put on weight while the treatment is going on. Steroids are responsible for a patient to gain weight. The drugs help in increasing the appetite. As the patient suffers from nausea then instead of having proper meals they prefer to nibble. This nibbling leads to weight gain.

The medicines that are given during the CHOP chemotherapy leads to irritation and damage of the tissue. Sometimes the tissues are so badly infected or damaged that the veins leak when the injection is being administered. This situation of the patient is known as extravasation. The nurses who attend the patients are fully trained and are competent enough to handle such extreme situations.