Answer:

During the Tet holiday, many cancer patients consider temporarily stopping their medication for a few days. They hope to avoid side effects or feel more at ease during the start of the new year. Some also believe that refraining from medication on the first day of Tet brings good luck. However, this notion is incorrect and can harm health.

Patients who discontinue medication without a doctor's instruction risk severe consequences. These include a flare-up of pain, worsening symptoms, or rapid disease progression. Oral cancer treatments, such as oral chemotherapy, targeted therapy drugs, or hormone therapy drugs, require consistent use to ensure treatment effectiveness.

Doctor Phuc consults a patient. Illustration: Tam Anh General Hospital

Cancer cells divide rapidly and continuously. Treatment drugs only work when their concentration in the blood remains within the therapeutic range. If patients stop medication for a few days during Tet, drug levels decrease below the necessary threshold. This allows cancer cells to grow unchecked and proliferate. Arbitrarily stopping medication also interrupts the treatment process, enabling cancer cells to mutate, adapt, and develop drug resistance. When patients resume medication after Tet, treatment effectiveness may diminish.

Specific treatments like targeted therapy drugs, oral chemotherapy, or hormone therapy drugs function by inhibiting tumor cell growth signals. Patients must take these medications at the correct time and dosage to maintain continuous effectiveness.

For supportive medications, such as painkillers and anti-nausea medication, patients should not reduce their dosage or stop taking them without consulting a doctor. If stopped arbitrarily, drug concentrations in the blood quickly drop, potentially causing pain to return more intensely and become difficult to control. You may ask your doctor about temporarily discontinuing certain dietary supplements, such as vitamins or liver support products, during Tet.

Master, Doctor, Specialist Level I Ngo Tuan Phuc

Department of Oncology

Oncology Center

Tam Anh General Hospital HCMC