Beacopp

BEACOPP

BEACOPP is a chemotherapy regimen for treatment of Hodgkin's lymphoma in Stages > II developed by the German Hodgkin Study Group. Patients typically receive treatment in cycles of 21 days with no drugs given on days 16-21. There also exists a more intensive regimen with cycles of 14 days. Usually a therapy consists of eight, sometimes six cycles. In some countries BEACOPP still is experimental, in others (e.g. Germany and Austria) it is a standard therapy. In the United States, ABVD (or Stanford V) is generally given instead, because BEACOPP is thought to induce more secondary neoplasias (such as leukemias). This has not been proven after 10 years of experience in other countries. Some consider that the BEACOPP regimen is not generally given for cost reasons; it is indeed more expensive as it requires G-CSF support. However, BEACOPP delivers approximately 10-15% more cures in advanced Hodgkin's disease (IIB+risk factors or stages III and IV).