Lymphoma and change in chemo doze?

My father is suffering from low grade transformed lymphoma. After 2 treatments of R-chop pet scan came clear. His WBC count is really low and he is in the hospital. Dr is talking about reducing the chemo doze by 25%, It is responding so well so why reduce it? Please advice.

Lymphoma and change in chemo doze?
I hope all turns out well.


Try Neulasta to keep cell counts up while on chemo.


Check this site for info:


http://www.leukemia-lymphoma.org/hm_lls


Best wishes
Reply:has the doctor tried the neulasta (sp?) shot to help your dads white blood cell count rebuild..it is a shot you get the day after each chemo


if he has done this and the count is still low enough to pput ur dad in the hospital they are going to reduce it because your dad needs his white blood cellls to survive the treatments and the chemo is doing too much damage to them
Reply:at the dose he is getting now- his white count drops so low he has to be hospitalized- if he were to get an infection it would not be good because he does not have the protection of white blood cells- by reducing the dose he is trying to make sure that he survives the treatment.
Reply:Your body can only handle so much chemo. R CHOP has a few drugs, like vincristine, that are very, very toxic. They have lifetime limits. If the cancer is clear, like you said, it would be pointless to give max doseage, especially if your father is neutropenic. They still want to give some more, to make sure its gone. Unfortunately, most lymphomas are not cureable. They are looking long term and do not want to run out of chemop options.





Has he discussed a Stem Cell/bone marrow transplant with his doctor? It may be something to bring up, especially since he is already getting chemo and his disease load sounds like its relatively low. Now would be the time to go for a transplant. Only your doctor can advise for sure, but a transplant is the only hope for long term remission. When you have a chronic cancer, like lymphoma, you want to buy time.


Chemo eventually stops working.





Good Luck.