Chemotherapy is one of the effective treatments for many types of cancer. These drugs, combined with radiation therapy, immunotherapy, hormone therapy, and surgery, are administered to prevent cancer from spreading and growing. A cancer specialist in Navi Mumbai recommends chemotherapy in multiple cycles.
This is to ensure that your body gets enough rest before the next cycle begins. It also helps assess how your body and the cancer responds to the medication. In this article, we’ve discussed all you should know about factors affecting chemotherapy duration, how many rounds of chemo is normal, and the chemo cycles. Let’s take a look:
Factors Influencing the Number of Chemo Rounds
The number of chemo sessions you need depends on many factors:
i) Type of Cancer:
Breast and lung cancer, for example, require 4-6 cycles of chemotherapy. Chronic leukemia may require ongoing chemo sessions that can last up to 2 years.
ii) Stage of Cancer:
Cancer that’s diagnosed at an early stage might require fewer chemo rounds compared to the advanced-stage cancer that’s spreading aggressively. Your treatment plan may include chemo sessions before and after surgery.
iii) Patient’s Health:
How your body reacts to the chemo drugs determine the number of chemo rounds required. If your tumor shrinks and your symptoms improve, the oncologist may recommend fewer sessions. If the progress is slow, more rounds might be scheduled.
Typical Chemotherapy Schedules
A normal range for chemotherapy rounds is between 4 and 6 cycles, but as mentioned above, it can vary from patient to patient, depending on the type and stage of cancer. Usually, the sessions start with chemo drugs, which are administered over a few days and are followed by a rest period of 2-3 weeks before another chemo session is planned.
Experts advise that chemotherapy drugs must be given with a rest period, as these medications can kill your fast-growing healthy cells. It’s a common side-effect of chemotherapy. So, while the treatment works wonders for cancer patients by killing the rapidly multiplying cancer cells, it also affects the cells responsible for your hair growth, cells in your mouth, gut, and other places. Your body needs adequate time to replenish these healthy cells.
Individualized Treatment Plan
Treatment is mostly personalized based on the patient’s age, type of cancer, and its aggressiveness. If needed, the chemotherapy regimen can be changed. The doctor decides whether to continue or how the future sessions should be planned based on how your cancer responds to the first few cycles.
Managing Side Effects
The most common side-effects after chemotherapy include fatigue, sore mouth, hair loss, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or constipation, neuro pain, cognitive issues, weight loss, and low immunity.
Chemotherapy treatment in Navi Mumbai is associated with many side-effects, some of which can cause extreme discomfort and might interfere with your daily activities. Talk to your doctor if the side-effects get severe. They will recommend lifestyle modification, change medication, or switch your chemo regimen to manage side-effects. There’s no exact chemotherapy count. You may need only a couple of sessions to kill cancer completely. Others may need more for the best results.