Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is a treatment used to eradicate cancers. Chemotherapy drugs used in the treatment slow down or stop the growth of cancerous cell. Today, chemotherapy is used to shrink and control advanced stomach or gastric cancer. EOX chemotherapy is mainly used to treat stomach or gastric cancer. EOX chemotherapy is combination chemotherapy. The drug combination used in EOX chemotherapy comprises of epirubicin, Eloxatin (oxaliplatin) and capecitabine.

Worldwide, gastric cancer or stomach cancer is the second most frequent cancer and more than 80% patients develop advanced disease and patients survive only for 3 to 4 months without chemotherapy. Patients can suffer from weight loss, anorexia, epigastria discomfort, and more infrequently, early satiety or vomiting of blood. Some classical chemotherapy regimens (CF and ECF) obtain responses in 20–40% of the patients and improve quality of life. However benefits with classical chemotherapy are limited and median survival not exceeds 7 to 10 months.

Doctors are always trying to get better response rates. So they test new drugs and new combinations of drugs. Different combinations of chemotherapy drugs are used to treat stomach and gastric cancer that has already spread. To improve these results, new combinations drugs has been explored. These new combinations of drugs include EOX (epirubicin, oxaliplatin and capecitabine), EOX (epirubicin, cisplatin and fluorouracil), ECX (epirubicin, cisplatin and capecitabine or Xeloda), Docetaxel (DCF) and irinotecan (ILF).

Among these EOX chemotherapy is used largely to treat cancer. EOX chemotherapy is usually given cycle. Each treatment cycle is followed of rest period which allow patient’s body to recover their normal cells. In EOX chemotherapy Epirubicin (50 mg/m2) and Oxaliplatin (130 mg/m2) is given intravenously on day 1 of chemotherapy treatment. Capecitabine (625 mg/m2) is given PO bid continuously. This is followed by rest period.

This completes one cycle of treatment. Repeat the cycle every three weeks for four to six times. Thus length of chemotherapy is 3 to 4 months.

EOX chemotherapy drugs are toxic in nature. They damage normal body cells along with cancer cells which causes some unpleasurable side effects. However, each patient reacts differently to chemotherapy. Some have fewer side effects while others have more.

Side effects associated with EOX chemotherapy include fatigue, hair loss, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, bleeding, mouth sores, low blood cell count and low resistance to infection. However, these side effects are temporary in nature and disappear once the treatment gets over. Even though, one should inform doctor about any side effects they are feeling.