chemoshortened

positive

Has anyone ever had there regimen of ABVD shortened. If you are in remission at the 4th cycle, what are 2 more cycles doing. What if you just had 1 more cycle and try to avoid unnecessary treatment. Does anyone understand what I'm saying.

hinkley

From what I understand, the 2 additional cycles of chemo after clean scans comes from clinical studies that have been done which showed similar relapse-free and overall survival rates when 2 additional cycles were given after clean scans as opposed to a fewer number of chemo cycles plus radiation. Believe me, my wife would have loved to have 1 less chemo cycle too, but if it gives you any better chance at all of being done with Hodgkins for good, then the extra cycle is worth it.

dpomroy

I had 8 ABVD treatments, after which I was rescanned. If I had been clean, I would've gotten 4 more treatments; I was not, so I got 8 more. The thing about Hodgkins is that it is a very treatable cancer. It is curable well over 90% of the time. They hit it hard, and even go a little overboard to be sure that they mop up any cells that might remain because if they don't get it all with the first round of treatments and it doesn't really all go away, it comes back meaner and badder than ever. Despite having had all 16 ABVD treatments and 5 weeks of daily radiation, mine never really went away. I ended up with a mess! I needed a stem cell transplant and that seems to have done the trick. I would avoid that at all costs! I would recommend doing what the doctor is suggesting. You really don't want to end up with something left behind.

brianhaug

I had 6 cycles of ABVD and just before my last treatment I asked my Onc if he thought we'd gotten it all, and his reply was "Oh yeah, we probably got it after the 2nd or 3rd cycle". The extra cycles were part of his "Let's kick the snot out of it now, and not have to do this again" mentality. Its been 5 years and I'm still healthy. If another two gives you the best chance of not having to go back and get another four, than its totally worth it. Take care.

karieallen

I was scheduled for 12 chemos, and after the 4th chemo, I had CT scans etc..there was no evidence of the tumors, only scar tissue.. I had 4 more chemos ( for a total of 8), then had PET scans, gallum scan and all that. and the scans came out clean. at that point my doc cancelled the last 4 chemo treatments. It was the first time in his 20 some years of practice that he had reduced the number of scheduled treatment. not only did my body respond well to treatment, my body tolerated treatment well, too ( I never got nauseous)..in my case there was strong evidence that the cancer was gone after 4 treatments, so the 5 through 8th treatments were for insurance...it's a balance that the docs are weighing: making sure the cancer is GONE versus reducing the long-term and short term effects of the treatment (which are not to be taken lightly)

Brettw

I was told up front that 2 cyles of ABVD was prescribed and thats all it took. Be adamant if you don"t want sounds like you"ve had more than enough.