Question about Chemotherapy?
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It depends on the medications.
In my case, a cycle was 3 weeks.
Best wishes
Chemotherapy involves the use of drugs to destroy or reduce the growth of cancer. It is sometimes recommended to reduce the risk of recurrence of cancer by killing any undetected cells that may have remained in the body. Even if the surgeon feels that all of the tumour has been removed, there is still a possibility that some cells may have gone away from the original site and spread to the lymphatic or blood vessels to other parts of the body where they cannot be detected. At other times it is recommended to shrink cancer deposits that cannot be removed surgically.
Chemotherapy works by killing the dividing cells in the body. Cancer cells divide rapidly and are often more susceptible to chemotherapy than non-cancer cells.
It will vary depending on the type of drugs being prescribed, the institution giving the treatment and the protocol. Different combination of drugs may be used, each requiring a different length of time to administer. The actual time for drug administration may vary from 30 minutes to four hours depending on the protocol.
It will depend on your mothers physical response to treatment exactly how long it will take. Cycles are determined by the type of chemotherapy ordered, the dosage, and the treatment protocol for this type of tumor and stage. In general a cycle (depending on the therapy) last a set number of days. Than your mother will have a set number of days off the chemotherapy. This will go in cycles up to six times. So, in general, if your mother has a five day chemotherapy treatment she would have a 21 to 28 day break, that would be one cycle. The cycle would than be repeated up to the six sessions. So, very generally . . six sessions could be between four to seven months depending on her type of chemo protocol and how she responds (does not have delays).
If you know the name of the chemotherapy she will be given, someone may have had it. For stage IV Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma Diffuse Large B Cell I had Rituxan (antibody by IV) and CHOP ( 3 drugs given by IV) took Prednisone by pill at the same time. It was administered every three weeks with the Rituxan IV on Monday and the CHO drugs by IV on
Tuesday every three weeks. Mine happened to be eight sessions though. The prescribed number of weeks between the IV session is determined by blood tests. If certain factors in the blood work are low, you have to wait until they are acceptable or take other types of infusions to make you strong enough to handle the chemo treatment. The actual period of time during the IV varies according to the drug. The Rituxan was three hours because it must be administered very slowly to prevent allergic reactions. The other three were given one after the other and took approximately an hour and a half in the chair . I do not know if this timing would be the same for an ovarian tumor or not.
It depends upon the drug or drugs given. Sometgimes it's an IV shot, and other times it's longer, sometimes requiring hospitalization.
been there but for another reason..stage two is promising but the work is a ball buster sending hugs and kissessss.hang in there theres work to do
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