What Is Induction Chemotherapy
By: MarkLuisTotal Views: 225, Word Count: 463,
Induction chemotherapy is usually used before more aggressive treatment. With induction chemotherapy, one can test different dugs on patients and their response to these dugs. Not only different drugs but amount of dose also varied. This will help to observe your physical reaction to side effects and what amount of dose you should be given without causing much pain and damage.
Induction chemotherapy is also useful to prepare your body for different therapies and treatments in future. With induction chemotherapy, one can tell that there is possibility that tumor may reduce in its size and also limits spreading of cancerous cells.
Chemotherapy is drug treatment applied to the cancer cells. These cancerous cells will tend to divide and grow fast without induction chemotherapy treatment. Drugs used in chemotherapy create toxicity on the cancerous cell and prevent them from growing and spreading. Induction chemotherapy may be a single drug application treatment or mixture of various drugs. These drugs are applied orally or through intravenous injections.
Induction chemotherapy, which also known as conventional therapy, is applied before transplantation of stem cells. Induction chemotherapy helps to lessen size of the tumor before actually transplant takes place. Drugs that are used in induction chemotherapy are myeloma drugs which include dexamethasone, Ortho-biotech, DVd, VAD, vincristine, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, thalidomide and methasone.
Patient is treated with induction chemotherapy treatment in cycles. Each treatment period is followed by recovery period. Recovery period helps patient to get through from side effects associate with treatment. During the treatment cycles more and more cancerous cell are exposed to treatment. In induction chemotherapy treatment, three to four cycles are given. This treatment is carried out for six months to one year.
Any chemotherapy treatment is associated with some side effects. Chemotherapy drugs that used for the treatment are toxic in nature. However, these drugs affect other body cells along with cancerous cell which causes side effects. The cells that are got affected are cells in the intestines, stomach, hair follicles and bone marrow. Blood cell count is also decreased due to induction chemotherapy treatment. Hair loss, diarrhea, vomiting, nausea and other associated sickness are the side effects associate with chemotherapy treatment. The side effects associated with chemotherapy treatments are varied from patient to patient and also depends on the stage of the cancer, the physical condition of the patient and the chemotherapy regimen that is usually followed.
Induction chemotherapy treatment is used in deciding right of dosage for long term treatment of cancer which can be a means of slowing or stopping cancer from growing. During the induction chemotherapy treatment, one can hope that patient become stronger and prepare himself for further high level, long term chemotherapy treatments. Though induction chemotherapy treatment is not the best choice, decision of therapy is taken by physician.
About the Author
Mark Luis is a medical writer specializing in cancer and chemotherapy. He runs few cancer and chemotherapy relates sites like and cancer symptoms.
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