Use of Anticancer Drugs with Other Treatments

Cancer chemotherapy is only one method of treating neoplastic disease. The other primary weapons in the anticancer arsenal are surgery and radiation treatment.18,61 The choice of one or more of these techniques depends primarily on the patient, the type of cancer, and the tumor location. In many situations, chemotherapy may be the primary or sole form of treatment in neoplastic disease, especially for certain advanced or inoperable tumors, or in widely disseminated forms of cancer, such as leukemia or lymphoma.6 In other situations, chemotherapy is used in combination with other techniques, such as an adjuvant to surgery and radiation treatment.18,27 Primary examples of adjuvant cancer chemotherapy include using anticancer drugs following a mastectomy or surgical removal of other carcinomas.19,54,43,61 

Chemotherapeutic Regimen ABVD Components of Regimen Doxorubicin (Adriamycin), bleomycin (Blenoxane), vinblastine (Velban), dacarbazine (DTIC) Primary Indication Hodgkin Disease 

BEP Bleomycin, etoposide, cisplatin (Platinol) Germ cell tumors 

CHOP Cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan), doxorubicin, vincristine (Oncovin), prednisone Non-Hodgkin lymphoma 

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