subject: Chop Chemotherapy Information [print this page] Chop Chemotherapy Information Chop Chemotherapy Information
CHOP Chemotherapy is one of the most popular treatment regimens for Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma or NHL. The cocktail of drugs used in this chemotherapy regimen include the following:
C Cyclophosphamide (neosar, cytoxan);
H Adriamycin (hydroxydoxorubicin/doxorubicin);
O Vincristine (oncovin);
P Prednisone (Orasone or Deltasone)
CHOP chemotherapy is also adopted as a parallel treatment regimen to Rituxan and other immunotherapy drugs in order to access the level of success of such modalities. These treatment regimens are sometimes referred to as CHOP+R or CHOP-R.
There are several critical issues and concerns that need to be considered as far as this chemotherapy regimen is concerned. It is important for those who are going to undergo this treatment regimen or are seriously considering it to carefully study all pertinent information and read available literature on the aforementioned drug components. You must also have a comprehensive and thorough consultation with your doctor or team of doctors who are going to be involved in the treatment procedure. Critical issues and concerned generally involve medical history, and pre-existing and pre-disposing conditions such as pregnancy and smoking.
In some instances, this chemotherapy regimen results to fertility problems. It is essential that you seriously consider embryo or egg freezing and sperm banking before going through with the treatment procedure. Another common side effect of CHOP chemotherapy is alopecia. The common types of alopecia associated with this chemotherapy regimen are the scarves and hats.
CHOP chemotherapy regimen is normally administered in 4-week cycles. The usual treatment regimen covers 6 cycles. However, the extent of the treatment regimen is largely dependent on the recommendation and judgment of the medical team.
Vincristine and Adriamycin are administered via IV where the patient receives the drugs through IV injection. On the other hand, Cyclophosphamide may be given through oral administration although in most instances the preferred route is via IV. Prednisone is taken via the oral route and is administered over a longer period of time.
The respective doses for each of the drugs used in the treatment regimen are dependent on the body area. The medical team uses a tabular guide in order to determine the exact amount of doses that are required by specific patients.
