AC cancer therapy is a combination chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer which involves the drugs doxorubicin, formerly known as adriamycin, and cyclophosphamide, according to Macmillan Cancer Support. This treatment is usually administered on an outpatient basis, and each cycle of the treatment lasts three weeks. Patients normally get four to six cycles over a three to four month period.
The Facts
The doctor administers a saline solution of doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide intravenously through a vein in the patient's hand or arm. Anti-nausea medication may also be given through the intravenous line, notes Macmillan Cancer Support. The patient gets both medications on the first day of treatment, followed by a three-week rest period to allow the patient to recover from side effects. This completes one cycle of treatment. The patient then receives the two drugs to start the next cycle. According to the CancerHelp UK website, AC cancer therapy is most often an adjuvant chemotherapy treatment doctors use after surgery to lessen the chances of a breast cancer recurrence.
Warnings
Common side effects of the AC regimen may include decreased resistance to infection, easy bruising or bleeding, anemia, fatigue, nausea and vomiting, hair loss, sore or dry mouth, bladder irritation and itchy skin, according to Macmillan Cancer Support.
Considerations
The Cancer Care Ontario website reports that doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide can cause harm to an unborn fetus. Therefore, it is not advisable for women to become pregnant while they are receiving the AC regimen.
While they are on the AC regimen and for at least six months after the treatment ends, patients should not get any form of live vaccine, because chemotherapy drugs decrease resistance to infection, according to the CancerHelp UK website.
Benefits of AC Chemotherapy in Neoadjuvant Setting
Patients who receive AC cancer therapy before breast cancer surgery, a neoadjuvant treatment, have a greater chance of undergoing breast-conserving therapy or lumpectomy as opposed to mastectomy, according to the Wiley Online Library. In addition to this, patients originally scheduled to undergo mastectomy may be able to have a lumpectomy instead if their response to neoadjuvant AC chemotherapy is good.
Precaution on the Use of Aspirin
The Cancer Care Ontario website reports that patients who are using aspirin for pain management should be aware that it could interfere with the AC cancer therapy treatment. For pain relief during the course of the AC treatment regimen, patients should use acetaminophen.
