Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsWhat Is Infusion Therapy?For CancerOther ConditionsWhat to ExpectRisks and Side EffectsFrequently Asked Questions
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
What Is Infusion Therapy?
For Cancer
Other Conditions
What to Expect
Risks and Side Effects
Frequently Asked Questions
When you’re facing treatment for cancer, you may start hearing about infusion treatments, therapies, and clinics. Infusions are a way to deliver drugs and medications directly into the bloodstream instead of taking them as pills or liquids.
Infusion treatments are commonly used to deliverchemotherapy,immunotherapy, and targeted therapy to treat cancer. Infusion therapies are liquids usually given from a plastic bag filled with medicine that’s attached to a thin, soft tube called a catheter that delivers the fluid into your body through a vein.
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Nurses will typically administer infusion therapies in an outpatient setting—at a doctor’s office, an infusion clinic, or even in your home with the help of a visiting nurse. In addition, you may get infusion therapies if you’re in the hospital.
This article will explain infusion therapy, its benefits, how it can treat patients, and what you can expect as a patient getting infusion treatments.
The medicine typically goes into your vein (intravenously, or IV) or sometimes an artery. Some of these medications can be administered in other ways, including:
Infusion therapies may also include drugs like insulin or chemotherapy delivered through a small pump, a needle, or an auto-injector, which is a self-administered dose prefilled into a spring-loaded syringe.
There are three reasons you may need to get your therapies through an infusion:
Cancer and Infusion Therapy
Chemotherapy drugs are quite toxic to the body, so they need to be given slowly to lessen side effects. However, not all chemotherapies are infusions—some are taken orally.
Other types of cancer therapies, including immunotherapies and targeted therapies, are made from monoclonal antibodies. Treatment with monoclonal antibodies almost always requires infusion therapy to administer.
Monoclonal antibodies arebiologic drugsthat must be administered directly into the blood or injected under the skin. Antibodies are naturally occurring proteins in your body and can directly target specific proteins and direct the immune system to attack them.
Monoclonal Antibody Drugs
Other Conditions That Infusion Therapy Treats
Many medications—other than cancer treatments—are delivered through infusion. Some of these include:
What to Expect During Infusion Treatments
There are many places that you can go to get infusion therapies. They may be performed in your home, a doctor’s office, the hospital, or a specialty infusion clinic. You may have access to a private room for your treatments, or you may get your infusion in a large room with other patients.
How you get your infusions depends on your insurance benefits and the locally available options. Ask your doctor about what to expect, check out the clinic’s website, or call ahead with any questions.
Types of Lines
If you’re getting a series of infusions, you may need options that will not require needle placement each time you come in. This will also reduce discomfort and scarring at the PIV site. These devices stay in your body for an extended period and are removed when they’re no longer required.
A central line is bigger than a normal needle catheter and can be inserted into multiple places like the chest, arm, neck, or groin. It’s inserted during minor surgery either at a clinic or hospital.
Central linesare also called a central venous catheter (CVC) or a central venous access device (CVAD). Types of central lines include peripherally inserted central catheters (PICC lines) and ports.
PICC linesare inserted into the upper arm, while other CVCs are inserted into the chest or neck. These options can be left in place for months but can’t get wet and need regular cleaning and maintenance.
Portsare small devices inserted under the skin in the upper chest. They can stay in place for years, can get wet, and require limited maintenance. Central lines are a good option for treatments that require repeated infusions over multiple months, including chemotherapies.
During Infusion
Because it can take some time to get your infusion, make sure to eat a light meal or snack a bit before your chemotherapy treatment. Ask your doctor or the infusion clinic about eating before other treatments.
The number of treatments you need and how often you need them will depend on the kind of treatment you’re getting and for what condition. Ask your doctor for more information about your specific treatment course. You may get your treatment in cycles that give your body a break between treatment courses.
Risks and Side Effects of Infusion Therapy
The attending nurse at the infusion clinic will monitor you for adverse effects of the infusion, including an allergic-like reaction called an immune reaction or a hypersensitivity reaction.
These reactions can happen with your first dose or any dose of an infusion drug. They can also occur immediately or take longer to appear.
If you have any of the following symptoms while getting an infusion, let your nurse know immediately:
Common reactions at the infusion site for any drugs include:
Monoclonal antibody side effects include:
Chemotherapy side effects include:
Summary
A Word From Verywell
What is IVIG infusion therapy?
A doctor may prescribe this treatment for various reasons. One main reason is that the patient lacks antibodies because of a problem with their immune system. When the body doesn’t make enough antibodies, it’s a condition called humoral immunodeficiency.
IVIG antibodies will help fight off infections. Treatments may be needed regularly but often are given in lower doses.
What is ketamine infusion therapy treatment?
Ketamine infusion therapy is a treatment option for nerve pain during cancer treatment. The drug slows down the pain-sensing nerves, bringing relief and reducing your pain level. This relief comes quickly and can last days or even weeks or longer after repeated treatments.
Ketamine infusions can last between four and six hours, so plan to be at the clinic for a prolonged period. You’ll also need someone to take you home after the infusion.
What is the difference between infusion therapy and home infusion therapy?
Until the 1980s, most infusions were done in a hospital and required the patient to stay for the length of their treatment—an increasingly costly and inconvenient option.
As infusion treatments became more popular, researchers developed protocols and techniques to administer infusions in outpatient settings. These may include treatment centers like clinics and medical offices and now also the comfort of your own home.
A visiting nurse typically delivers home infusion therapies. The nurse may also instruct you or your caregiver on using the machinery or disconnect the tubing when the infusion is done.
You may also be given continuous infusion, in which you are sent home with an electronic IV pump that administers the drug over one or more days.
You’ll need to take special precautions and steps to keep the rest of your household safe while you’re getting treatments like infusions at home, as the drugs may be toxic.
9 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.American Cancer Society.Getting cancer treatment at home.National Home Infusion Association.About infusion therapy.American Cancer Society.Getting IV or injectable chemotherapy.American Cancer Society.Monoclonal antibodies and their side effects.American Cancer Society.Tubes, lines, ports, and catheters used in cancer treatment.American Cancer Society.What are infusion or immune reactions?American Cancer Society.Chemotherapy side effects.UpToDate.Patient education: Intravenous immune globulin (IVIG) (Beyond the Basics) - UpToDate.Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.About your ketamine infusion treatment.
9 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.American Cancer Society.Getting cancer treatment at home.National Home Infusion Association.About infusion therapy.American Cancer Society.Getting IV or injectable chemotherapy.American Cancer Society.Monoclonal antibodies and their side effects.American Cancer Society.Tubes, lines, ports, and catheters used in cancer treatment.American Cancer Society.What are infusion or immune reactions?American Cancer Society.Chemotherapy side effects.UpToDate.Patient education: Intravenous immune globulin (IVIG) (Beyond the Basics) - UpToDate.Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.About your ketamine infusion treatment.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
American Cancer Society.Getting cancer treatment at home.National Home Infusion Association.About infusion therapy.American Cancer Society.Getting IV or injectable chemotherapy.American Cancer Society.Monoclonal antibodies and their side effects.American Cancer Society.Tubes, lines, ports, and catheters used in cancer treatment.American Cancer Society.What are infusion or immune reactions?American Cancer Society.Chemotherapy side effects.UpToDate.Patient education: Intravenous immune globulin (IVIG) (Beyond the Basics) - UpToDate.Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.About your ketamine infusion treatment.
American Cancer Society.Getting cancer treatment at home.
National Home Infusion Association.About infusion therapy.
American Cancer Society.Getting IV or injectable chemotherapy.
American Cancer Society.Monoclonal antibodies and their side effects.
American Cancer Society.Tubes, lines, ports, and catheters used in cancer treatment.
American Cancer Society.What are infusion or immune reactions?
American Cancer Society.Chemotherapy side effects.
UpToDate.Patient education: Intravenous immune globulin (IVIG) (Beyond the Basics) - UpToDate.
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.About your ketamine infusion treatment.
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