Is interferon a form of chemo therapy?

[lynne655]

The other question i meant to ask is whether interferon is a form of chemotherapy or not?
Thanks
Lynne

[nygirl7]

Its a chemical therapy and sometimes we use the word chemotherapy to explain it to people who dont understand what we are going through (or we don't want to tell them exactly) but if you ask anyone who has ever done both - they will tell you no it's nothing like real chemo at all.

So don't be scared of it that way.......its no where near the same.

[Trinity4]

Some people prefer calling it chemotherapy.  I prefer calling it antiviral therapy.  I've experienced the effects of antiviral therapy myself and taken care of a family member who has undergone chemotherapy and antiviral therapy was a walk in the park compared to what they went through with chemotherapy.

Trinity

[positude]

Hi Lynne.

There are several websites that say "yes" Interferon IS a chemotherapy drug. But I think it refers more to the "class" of the drug as it is not at all like traditional chemotherapy for cancer patients. Methotrexate for rheumatoid arthritis is a chemotherapy drug. There are many of them, and while they all have some similar side effects, some are not as harsh and everyone reacts differently to different drugs.

Hope this helps.
Pos.

[spectda]

I wouldn't call interferon and riba chemo therapy. interferon boosts your immune system and chemo destroys tumors and cells along with a lot of healthy cells in a person's body. From the people I have known who experienced chemo for cancer it is much more devastating to one's body.

I suppose if you use the term chemo interchangeably with chemical therapy you could say any medication is chemo.
- David

[Diane12855]

interferon boosts your immune system and chemo destroys tumors and cells along with a lot of healthy cells in a person's body

Something is attacking my RBCs, WBCs and platelets... they used to be healthy cells. Actually, since they are all made in the bone marrow, maybe it is the bone marrow thatt is being attacked. Plus... my hair roots are being attacked because my hair is falling out.

I call it a mild form of chemo therapy. Like Nygirl says, it does make it a lot easier to explain to people who have no idea what we are talking about.

Diane

[JennyPenny2009]

The definition of chemotherapy is using drugs to treat a disease. So technically HCV treatment is chemotherapy. However, most people use the term of chemotherapy to mean treating cancer with drugs. The connotation it brings to mind is one of of harsh drugs causing severe nausea and baldness. Like nygirl, I prefer calling it anti-viral therapy as it doesn't scare new patients away. And it is not as harsh as drug tereatment for cancer.

[spectda]

The point of chemotherapy is too destroy cancer cells but the medication can not distinguish between healthy and cancer cells. Although interferon and riba have adverse cell destroying side effects they are not designed with the purpose of destroying cells.

I think the real question is if they compare in what they do to the body and how debilitating they are. My experience has been that tx really $ucks, but is not nearly as devastating as cancer chemo.

[spectda]

I didn't mean to imply that I have experienced chemo, I guess I should say my observation.

[hippygem]

I was wondering about the side effects of chemotherapy on cancer patients, and do they suffer the same side effects as the 'mental & physical' side effects as we all experience during HCV treatment.?
Or do cancer patients just have the nausea/weightloss/hairloss physical side effects.?
Do they go through the interferon fogged out depression/soul destroying/soul searching exeriences that we go through?

How long is cancer treatment?

Im on treatment just now, 2nd round, questioning everything.........lol

[mountainair]

What I have observed in my internet investigations confirms what ya'll have said for HCV combination therapy which consists of interferon and antivirals; however I did note that therapy with interferon (regardless of the purpose - cancer or hep c) is specifically referred to as immunotherapy.
I, too have been confused about how a drug (interferon) that is supposed to boost my immune system results in a reduction of WBCs - especially neutriphils we need to fight infection??!?
Lynda

[nygirl7]

I received this email from a friend of mine who is not a member but occasionally takes a peak at the forum.  He has done both and this was what I was asked to post:

Please post this note from a "friend"

I've done cancer chemo and I have also done 48 weeks of SOC for HCV.  I would call it "chemo" in awkward situations where I did not want to be closely questioned about my illness, however to me it is a whole different experience and not in the same class with cancer treatment.  Also, many people undergoing chemo for cancer (myself included) also are taking radiation treatments at the same time.  There is no comparison between SOC for HCV and the torture that is chemo plus radiation.

[nygirl7]

Or do cancer patients just have the nausea/weightloss/hairloss physical side effects.?
Do they go through the interferon fogged out depression/soul destroying/soul searching exeriences that we go through? "

Have you ever SEEN someone going through real chemo?  It seems 100x worse to me than anything we go through - 100x.

We are quite lucky in that way even though hepc treatment *****.

[eureka254]

The varied uses of interferon make its 'classification' open to interpretation, especially because it is sometimes used in certain cancer treatments. Because the term "chemo" over the years has become synonymous with 'cancer treatment,' many people don't feel it's appropriate to call hcv treatment chemotherapy, even though as pointed out above the technical definition could encompass it to be considered as such.  

On flip side, there is currently quite a bit of research exploring the possible anti-cancer properties of both interferon and ribavirin.  There is some recent evidence that both may have anti-cancer potential in addition to anti-viral properties -- oncologists and tumor specialists are exploring those possibilities and investigating interferon more recently as a possible anti-cancer agent.  And though for most people, hcv tx is not considered chemo, for my husband, it IS chemo, from both a technical and interpretive standpoint. Because he is fighting liver cancer as well as hcv, for him, treatment is as much about keeping hcv away as it is about keeping hcc at bay.  He has not had any radiation therapy, but he has undergone a session of chemo-embolization for his hcc, and I can certainly attest that it is no picnic -- but hcv treatment isn't a walk in the park either.  If I had to compare the two from his experience, no doubt standard "chemo" is a much more intense and debilitating experience (in terms of both the treatment itself and the side effects) and the discomfort much more severe, but it lasts for a much shorter duration.  (I would say hcv treatment is like Chinese water torture, but chemo treatment is like electric shock torture.)

I think it's important to note that independently, both hcv therapy and cancer therapy affect treated individuals very differently from case to case  -- we've seen people breeze through inf/riba treatment, and then some who are completely debilitated by it.  Similarly for cancer therapy: there are those who tolerate chemo and radiation with moderate side effects, and who cannot tolerate it at all. We can all certainly agree that inf/riba is anti-viral as well as immuno-therapy, but my thinking is the jury is still out on whether or not it's appropriate to call it chemotherapy.
~eureka

[1emmie]

I have had typical chemotherapy for endometrial cancer AND I've gone through 2 rounds of Interferon/ribaviran.   I lost my hair in BOTH ~ almost every bit of ot it and I have VERY thick hair.  After the first Chemotherapy for cancer my hair regrew softer but just as thick.  The first round of Interferon/riba it came back curlier.  The 2nd round of Interferon/riba they lowered the dosage so it only thinned but came back fine.
I ASK my Hepatologist and he said Interferon is a form of chemotherapy and used to treat several types of cancers.  Most people handle the treatment well, but there are those, and I was one, who had horrible side effects such as, medication induced depression, medication induced anorexia (I lost almost 50 lbs), drops in White Blood Cells requiring medical intervention (I was hospitalized 2 times due to this), I developed Sjogren's, Raynaud's, RA (auto immune disorders), neuropathy, lasting chemo fog (I've been off treatment 3 years and still have some minor problems).
Do not think Hepatitis Treatment is 'small time', it's not, it is the only treatment available NOW and does have a history of success, especially with some genotypes.
Do not JUDGE the disease or it's treatment by things you've heard or read as everyone case is so specific and individual ~ there is much misinformation out there about both.
Treatment and early is THE BEST for most people, in my opinion, but know going in that it may not be best for YOU.
SUPPORT RESEARCH INTO OTHER TREATMENTS THAT DO NOT INCLUDE INTERFERON.

[toofrank]

Ribavirin + Interferon may not be, in most people's minds, chemotherapy, but the side effects, to an outside observer, may appear similar.  I was on this regimen for 6 months during which time I felt very nauseous, had little appetite, had a very itchy rash over about 50% of my body and had my weight drop from about 175 down to 135.  I always dreaded the weekly subcutaneous injections but, on an intellectual level, I knew that they were the right thing to do.

[dontworry_behappy1]

Is interferon a form of chemotherapy?
Yes!

[SeattleSue54]

I had similar experience 12 years ago. As I understood it, the interferon lowered the ability of my red blood cells to replicate, while the rib. attacked the hep c cells. My doc. explained it was lowered just above the point that it would kill me.
I am still negative(thanks to God) but have had chronic fatigue, IBS, hypothyroidism (extremely high levels now) RA for awhile, fibromyalgia throughout. I had no choice to treat or not because mine was advanced, after 30 years they said, but my quality of life has never been the same. I feel instinctively that my immune system was damaged and I need some kind of blood transfer,
Not to be a downer, everyone is different,. I am grateful to be alive.

[cheflady]

my hubby just got results of 4wk and viral load is zero.Just want to say that yes the treatment is harsh for all concerned but the news was a tremendous boost and we can see a light at the end of the tunnel. So good luck to everybody this site is brill fantastic long distance support

[debbiedo100]

Hello, I started Hep C treatment 5 weeks ago. I have lost some hair no big deal. The worst part is the up and downs, mostly down. You feel sick all the time, can't eat, went from 132 pounds to 124 in 4 weeks, vomit often. Had blood transfusion because of extremely low red blood cell count, little or no appetitie, feel like dying but not depressed. If someone could put me to sleep I would welcome it.  I am weak and confused a lot...I look around at other people/children and they have it a whole lot worse so that thought keeps me going. People should have their Doctors do a full stds pannel espcially for hep c and if diagnosed get treatment right away. The virus at that point is going after your liver.

[quayle]

Yes interferon is a form of Cancer treatment lynne,in fact it is part of the treatment for Liver Cancer.

[orphanedhawk]

I'm not an  expert but I relive you are very mistaken.

Our member SFHector who is on the transplant list, has battled liver cancer and they did not use interferon tx  to rid him of his tumor.
He will gladly tell you that interferon treatment is not chemo, having done both.

[Diana66]

however, Interferon is and was used to treat cancers such as lymphoma, melanoma, kidney cancer, leukemia, etc,

I think is called sometimes "biological therapy" because interferon is a natural part of the body's immune system.Of course, there is nothing natural or human about the interferon we are doing, is just a mix of chemicals plus interferon coming out of the E Coli bacteria so it is not a cytotoxic chemo drugs but still a chemical drug

[orphanedhawk]

Yes, I've read that interferon was also used for treating some cancers, though not liver cancer.

I'd also like to point out to quayle who is replying to Lynn that her  post was from 2010. It's not likely she is still looking for replies.

[panda2526]

I'm glad it came up, though a little from the past...I was wondering the same thing myself lately and glad to see it entered the recent threads again...there are always new people wondering the same questions other people have already had answered.

C