Question about Chemo

[Andrea B.]

I have recently been reading some of the posts about how many doses of chemotherapy you can receive. I am wondering if someone can clarify a couple things for me. I notice that some people receive it in a 3 week cycle (given one week followed by 3 weeks off) is this more typical for SCLC vs. NSCLC? Also, I have been reading that people can only receive 6 treatments of chemotherapy before it becomes toxic. But I also read about others who are receiving multiple types of chemo if one stops working. My mom has received 12 weekly (with some weeks off due to low blood counts). She is taking a few weeks off and if there are any active cancer cells present, they are going to administer a new chemo drug. Is this standard? Or should I be questioning her doctor on the amount she is receiving? Thanks in advance.

[Cindy RN]

Each chemo agent is different as is each Dr. I had cisplatin 1 x a month and camptosar 1 x week with 1 week off then would restart with the cisplatin. I did it for 6 mos and the Dr reevaluated how it worked and decided I had such good results and my health was good he did an additional 3 mos. I have read studies that say 6 mos was as good as 9 mos so they do not recommend 9 mos anymore. Oh well, I went with what my Dr said. I have to trust his judgement. The second go around with chemo a year later I had carboplatin and VP-16 3 x week 1 and off for 3 weeks then redid it for 6 mos this time. Also I had radiation the second time because there was just 1 new tumor and he said he was treating it like a primary tumor. Like I said everyone is different. Hope this helps.

[Don Wood]

My wife was given the choice of every week at lower dose or every third week at higher dose. We chose the latter to give her a break in each cycle, and she was able to tolerate the higher dose. I agree it depends on the chemo taken and the doctor. Don