Feasibility and obstacles in home chemotherapy for malignant lymphoma

Home care has become a treatment option for cancer patients; however, medical practice at patients' homes has been expected mainly for terminal care in Japan. Most physicians believe that it is difficult to treat patients with hematologic malignancy at home because they frequently develop complications requiring urgent interventions. We herein report the case of an 80-year-old patient with advanced follicular lymphoma who safely received aggressive chemotherapy at home and finally died due to disease progression at the hospital. Home chemotherapy can be a feasible and potentially novel treatment option for some patients with hematologic malignancy, although the clinical course of the present patient suggested that patient selection is critical for the safe operation of home chemotherapy and that it is important to educate families on how to evaluate patients' conditions and how to cope with aggravation and admission arrangements in back-up hospitals.