Chemotherapeutic regimen for treatment of non-hodgkin's lymphoma
CHOP consists of:
- Cyclophosphamide, an alkylating agent which damages DNA by binding to it and causing cross-links
- Hydroxydaunorubicin (also called doxorubicin or Adriamycin), an intercalating agent which damages DNA by inserting itself between DNA bases
- Oncovin (which is the trade name for vincristine), which prevents cells from duplicating by binding to the protein tubulin
- Prednisone or prednisolone is a corticosteroid.
Normal cells are more able than cancer cells to repair damage from chemotherapy drugs.
This regimen can also be combined with the monoclonal antibody rituximab if the lymphoma is of B cell origin; this combination is called R-CHOP or CHOP-R. Typically, courses are administered at an interval of two or three weeks (CHOP-14 and CHOP-21 respectively). A staging CT scan is generally performed after three cycles to assess whether the disease is responding to treatment.
In patients with a history of cardiovascular disease, doxorubicin (which is cardiotoxic) is often deemed to be too great a risk and is omitted from the regimen. The combination is then referred to as COP (cyclophosphamide, Oncovin, and prednisone or prednisolone) or CVP (cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and prednisone or prednisolone).
