For most patients, except for biopsy and staging, there is little use of surgery. Chemo drugs can be either by mouth in pill or liquid form or by injection into the vein or under the skin or into a muscle. Chemotherapy is systemic therapy, and once it enters the body usually circulates throughout the whole system to destroy malignant cells. The Chemotherapy used to treat Hodgkin's Disease traditionally is prescribed in combinations because different drugs kill cancer cells in different ways. The many drugs used in combination to treat Hodgkin's Disease, like in many cancers, are often referred to by abbreviations that are easy to remember.
Chemotherapy drugs kill normal healthy cells as well as malignant cells.
Careful attention is given to reduce the unwanted effects of chemotherapy. Drugs used in chemotherapy specifically find and destroy cells that are rapidly dividing. These drugs are effective because malignant cells divide faster than normal cells do. Normal tissues such as bone marrow, mouth and intestine lining, and the hair follicles that grow rapidly are the ones most likely to be affected by chemotherapy. As a result, patient often experience hair loss, mouth sores, lowered blood counts and resistance to infection, bleeding, and fatigue.