Induction Chemotherapy

Induction chemotherapy is the first line drug treatment given for cancer, with the goal of bringing about remission or curing the disease outright. It is distinguished from neoadjuvant therapy, which is given before another primary treatment, from consolidation chemotherapy, which follows to kill any cancer cells that survived the initial round, and from maintenance chemotherapy, given afterward at lower doses; it has shown particular benefit against malignant lymphomas and head and neck cancers when combined with radiotherapy or given at the same time as chemoradiotherapy.