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Chemo for a year

Mrs_Bg
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Hi all,

My mum got diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer in September 21.  She had chemotherapy to shrink it and has had chemo every 3 weeks to control it.   The doctor said in April they would stop the maintenance chemotherapy and monitor her with blood tests and if anything changed they would discuss chemotherapy again.  Has anyone else had this? I thought that the chemotherapy would just carry on to keep her cancer contained 

Ann 

  • Hello Ann

    Thank you for posting in our Ask the Nurses topic area. The nurse team is out of the office for the festive period.

    The office reopens on Wednesday 28th to 30th Dec 9 am to 5 pm. Then closed 5 pm 30th Dec, back on 3rd Jan 2023 to 6th Jan, as normal 9 am to 5 pm.

    They will reply as soon as they can but you’re also welcome to contact them on 0808 800 4040 during opening hours.

    Best wishes,
    Jenn
    Cancer Chat moderator

  • Hello Ann

    I am sorry to read about your mum needing treatment for ovarian cancer.  It is normal in most cases for chemotherapy to be given as a course of treatment and then to stop it.  This is because many chemotherapy drugs have side effects and may cause problems if given for longer periods of time.  So it is quite usual to have a course of treatment for several months and then to reassess the situation.  They then monitor the situation and if the blood tests or other investigations at some point show that the cancer has started to grow again they look to see what further treatment can be given.  With cancer of the ovary they can sometimes use the same drugs again, or they might decide to try a different kind of chemotherapy or another treatment.

    So it sounds like you mum is being treated in the usual way.  We have information on our website about ovarian cancer treatment here www.cancerresearchuk.org/.../treatment which you might find helpful.

    I hope that is helpful

    Martin

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