Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is treatment to treat cancer in which drugs or chemical are used to kill cancerous cell. Chemotherapy is a very broad term. Chemotherapy treatment depends on type of cancer you have, stage of cancer, patient’s prognosis. Also, duration of chemotherapy or length of chemotherapy varies according to treatment plan.

Chemotherapy treatment is given in cycles. Each treatment period is followed by rest period which is followed by treatment period and so on. Rest period allows the body’s normal, healthy cells to recover from the damage. Usually chemotherapy treatment last for 3 to 6 months. Length of chemotherapy depends on cycle time, duration of the cycle, frequency of the cycle, and how many cycles.

Duration of the cycle:
In chemotherapy treatment, single drug or a combination of drugs can be used to treat cancer. Duration of treatment may be a single day, several consecutive days or continuously as an outpatient or as an inpatient. Treatment could last minutes, hours, or days, depending on the treatment plan. Duration of cycle include treatment period and rest or recovery period.

Frequency of the cycle:
Chemotherapy treatment may repeat weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. Cycle is defined in monthly intervals often.

The number of cycles:
Number of cycles or the length of chemotherapy is determined by your doctor and medical team using research and clinical trials.

Length of chemotherapy is also depends on treatment goal. If cure is treatment goal, adjuvant chemotherapy (chemotherapy applied after surgery) can take 4-6 months to eradicate cancer. It is commonly used for treating breast and colon cancer. However, for cancers of the testis, Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and leukemia, duration of chemotherapy treatment may extend up to a year.

In case of visible cancer, the length of chemotherapy treatment will depend upon the response of the patient to therapy. Chemotherapy treatment may continue for one or two cycles once after the disease disappears completely to maximize the chance of having attacked all microscopic cancerous cells. If cancer does not disappear completely but shrinks, chemotherapy can continue as long as it is tolerated and cancer does not grow. If disease grows, treatment will be stopped.

Chemotherapy treatment can be given to patients at home, in the doctor’s office, clinic, outpatient department of hospital or in hospital. Doctor asked patients to stay in the hospital at the beginning of chemotherapy as they can check for any side effects and change the dose if needed. Chemotherapy drugs are administered using different including orally, intravenously, injection, topically.

Length of chemotherapy treatment depends on the type of cancer, stage of cancer, patient’s response to the drugs, patients’ health and ability to tolerate the drugs, and the types of drugs given.