Chemotherapy options

Chemotherapy is the use of anticancer drugs designed to destroy cancer cells or impede their ability to grow and reproduce. Though chemotherapy is a common treatment for blood cancer patients, finding the right chemotherapy drug, or combination of drugs, for you is critical. Chemotherapy for blood cancer often consists of giving several drugs together in a set regimen. Because each medication destroys tumor cells in different ways, a combination of drugs may make the cells more vulnerable to treatment.

Two of the chemotherapy options available to blood cancer patients at City of Hope include:

Immunochemotherapy

Immunochemotherapy (also called chemoimmunotherapy) combines two powerful treatments: immunotherapy and chemotherapy. Immunotherapy is the use of certain agents designed to stimulate your immune system to attack and destroy cancer cells. Chemotherapy is the use of drugs designed to destroy or slow the growth of cancer cells.

Intrathecal chemotherapy

Your doctor may suggest intrathecal chemotherapy to treat your cancer if it spreads to the central nervous system. This technique delivers chemotherapy drugs directly into the cerebrospinal fluid surrounding your brain and spinal cord to target cancer cells. Intrathecal chemotherapy is delivered through a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) or a device placed under your scalp.