Chemotherapy Regimens

Chemotherapy Regimens

A fundamental philosophy of combination chemotherapy is that different chemotherapy drugs work through different cytotoxic mechanisms, and that the results of using multiple drugs will be synergistic to some extent. Because they have different dose-limiting adverse effects, they can be given together at full doses in chemotherapy regimens.

The first successful combination chemotherapy was MOPP introduced in 1963 for lymphomas.

The term "induction regimen" refers to a chemotherapy regimen which is used for the initial treatment of a disease. A "maintenance regimen" refers to the ongoing use of chemotherapy that is used to reduce the chances of a cancer recurring or to prevent an existing cancer from continuing to progress.

Chemotherapy regimens are often identified by acronyms, identifying the agents used in the drug combination. However, the letters used are not consistent across regimens, and in some cases - for example, "BEACOPP" - the same letter combination is used to represent two different treatments.

There is no widely accepted naming convention or standard for the nomenclature of chemotherapy regimens. For example, either generic or brand names may be used for acronyms. This page merely lists commonly used conventions.