What Is Beam Chemotherapy?

Chemotherapy is a drug treatment for cancer which is delivered through the bloodstream to reach and kill cancer cells quickly. There are a variety of chemotherapy treatments available, and BEAM chemotherapy is considered one of the combination chemotherapy treatments.

Features

• BEAM chemotherapy is a high-dose form of chemo given before stem cell transplant treatment or bone marrow treatment especially for lymphoma cancer. Receiving either stem cell or bone marrow treatments allows physicians to administer much higher doses of chemotherapy than they would be able to otherwise, because the healthy cells are replenished.

Identification

• BEAM chemotherapy is named for the four drugs used: Carmustine (BiCNU,) Etoposide, Cytarabine (Arabinoside,) and Melphalan.

Function

• High dose chemotherapy treatment destroys cancer cells, but also healthy cells. That's why stem cell or bone marrow treatment is crucial, so that the healthy stem cells help grow new blood cells to replace those destroyed during chemotherapy.

Time Frame

• BEAM chemotherapy is administered in the hospital over a period of eight days, then the stem cell or bone marrow treatment is given. A patient will remain hospitalized until the blood cells have been replenished and is healthy enough to go home.

Treatment

• The treatment is given on a schedule, and the first day is called Day Minus 7, when carmustine is given as an IV drip for two hours. On Days Minus 6 through Minus 3, cytabarine is given twice daily as an IV drip for 30 minutes, and etoposide is given once a day for two hours. On day Minus 2, melphalan is given as a drip once for 30 minutes as well as lots of fluids via IV to flush the chemo drugs from the patient's system. Day Minus 1, more fluids but no drugs are given via IV. Finally, on Day 0, the stem cells are given through the central line as a drip.