Biochemo vs chemotherapy

[voraciousj]

Hi all! I was wondering if anyone could explain the difference between biochemo and chemo. Thanks!

[EricJRN, MSN, RN]

Technically, chemotherapy refers to the administration of a drug to kill microbes or tumors. But generally people think of chemotherapy as an IV medication that kills cancer cells.

There is another drug option in cancer care known as immunotherapy, the administration of drugs that stimulate the immune system rather than attacking tumor cells directly.

When you combine cancer chemotherapy and immunotherapy, that's what they refer to as biochemotherapy.

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

per my copy of taber's cyclopedic medical dictionary, 18th edition, published in 1997 by f.a. davis company:

• there is no entry for biochemo
  
• biochemistry - the chemistry of living things. (page 220)
  
• chemotherapy - in the treatment of disease, the application of chemical reagents that have a specific and toxic effect on the disease-causing microorganism. (page 363)

[voraciousj]

Thank you!

[emmybear2005]

I went thru biotherapy- which I believe was the immunotherapy minus the chemo. I went thru a year of Interferon. Another one is interleuken. I went the thru the interferon to start my cells fighting malignant metastatic melanoma. My oncologist called it biotherapy, very hard to get people to understand that it was not chemotherapy.