What is Red Devil chemo?

The chemotherapy (“chemo”) drug “The Red Devil” is doxorubicin (Adriamycin). It is an intravenous cancer medicine with a clear, bright red color, which is how it got its nickname.

What type of cancer is red Devil used for?

For decades, the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin has been part of the arsenal in treating patients with several forms of cancer, including breast cancer and leukemia.

What can I expect from the red Devil Chemo?

This agent has earned its infamous nickname, the red devil, based on its bright red (Kool-Aid red) color, vesicant properties, and side-effect profile, including hair loss, myelosuppression, nausea and vomiting, mouth sores, and rare but serious cardiotoxicity.

Is doxorubicin the strongest chemo?

Doxorubicin is considered one of the strongest chemotherapy drugs for breast cancer ever invented. It can kill cancer cells at every point in their life cycle, and it's used to treat a wide variety of cancers, not just breast cancer.

Which is the most serious side effect of doxorubicin >?

This medicine may cause irreversible heart muscle damage, leading to heart failure. This is more likely to occur if you have other heart problems, have had or currently receiving radiation therapy to your chest, or have received other cancer medicines.

CHEMO BRAIN: BATTLING THE RED DEVIL

What is the success rate of doxorubicin?

At a median follow-up of 56 months, overall survival, the primary endpoint, at one year was slightly, but not significantly, improved with the combination; overall survival was 60% with ifosfamide/doxorubicin compared to 51% with sole doxorubicin, hazard ratio HR 0.82; p = 0.061.

How many cycles of doxorubicin can you have?

You have doxorubicin and ifosfamide as cycles of treatment. This means you have the drugs and then a rest to allow your body to recover. Each cycle of treatment lasts 21 days (3 weeks). You usually have up to 6 cycles in total.

Who gets red Devil chemo?

Doxorubicin, in the drug class known as anthracyclines, has been used for decades in the treatment of various solid cancers such as breast cancer and ovarian cancer, or blood cancers like leukemia or lymphoma.

What is the most aggressive chemotherapy?

Doxorubicin (Adriamycin) is one of the most powerful chemotherapy drugs ever invented. It can kill cancer cells at every point in their life cycle, and it's used to treat a wide variety of cancers. Unfortunately, the drug can also damage heart cells, so a patient can't take it indefinitely.

How do you feel after doxorubicin?

Tiredness and weakness (fatigue) during and after treatment

You might feel very tired during your treatment. It might take 6 months to a year for your energy levels to get back to normal after the treatment ends. A low red blood cell count will also make you feel tired.

Is the 2nd chemo worse than the first?

Don't plan your chemo response until you've gone through your first infusion. The effects of chemo are cumulative. They get worse with each cycle.

Is the first week after chemo the worst?

For most people the side effects were worst in the first few days after treatment, then they gradually felt better until the next treatment. Some said the effects were worse with each successive treatment.

What is the most life threatening side effect of chemotherapy?

Infections. Chemotherapy can reduce your body's ability to fight infection. This makes you more likely to get infections that could make you seriously ill.

Does chemo get worse each time?

Most types of pain related to chemotherapy get better or go away between individual treatments. However, nerve damage often gets worse with each dose. Sometimes the drug causing the nerve damage has to be stopped. It can take months or years for nerve damage from chemotherapy to improve or go away.

Do you lose your hair with R chop chemotherapy?

Your hair will get thinner. Or you may lose all the hair from your head. You may also lose your eyelashes and eyebrows, as well as other body hair. Hair loss usually starts after your first or second treatment.

How quickly does doxorubicin work?

Hair loss. Usually starts 3–4 weeks after the first dose of doxorubicin, although it may happen earlier.

What is the life expectancy after chemotherapy?

During the 3 decades, the proportion of survivors treated with chemotherapy alone increased from 18% in 1970-1979 to 54% in 1990-1999, and the life expectancy gap in this chemotherapy-alone group decreased from 11.0 years (95% UI, 9.0-13.1 years) to 6.0 years (95% UI, 4.5-7.6 years).

Why can't you touch chemo pills?

Chemotherapy drugs are considered to be hazardous to people who handle them or come into contact with them. For patients, this means the drugs are strong enough to damage or kill cancer cells. But this also means the drugs can be a concern for others who might be exposed to them.

How many rounds of chemo can a person have?

During a course of treatment, you usually have around 4 to 8 cycles of treatment. A cycle is the time between one round of treatment until the start of the next. After each round of treatment you have a break, to allow your body to recover.

Do you pee red on chemo?

Some anticancer medicines cause the urine to change color (orange, red, green, or yellow) or take on a strong or medicine-like odor for 24 to 72 hours. Talk with your healthcare provider to find out if the chemotherapy medicines you are getting will cause any of these side effects.

How long does it take for red blood cells to recover after chemo?

Blood cell counts often begin to recover and rise on their own, usually 2–4 weeks after treatment.

What happens if the first round of chemo doesn't work?

Your doctor may then suggest a second-line treatment, also called second-line therapy. It is a different treatment that is likely to be effective. Depending on the type of cancer you have and the available drugs, you may be able to have third-line therapy or additional rounds of treatment after that.

Why does doxorubicin have a lifetime limit?

Cardiac Toxicity:

It is recommended that the cumulative total lifetime dose of doxorubicin (including related drugs such as daunorubicin) should not exceed 450 – 550 mg/m2 body surface area. Above this dosage, the risk of irreversible congestive cardiac failure increases greatly.

Which cancers are treated with doxorubicin?

Is doxorubicin well tolerated?

Pegylated liposomal doxorubicin administered as a single agent is generally well tolerated. Grade III/IV leucopenia, stomatitis and palmar-plantar erythrodysaesthesia affected 16, 6 and 18% of solid tumour patients, respectively. Other adverse effects included nausea and vomiting and alopecia.