Cancer drugs A to Z list
Polatuzumab vedotin with R-CHP is also called Pola-R-CHP. It includes the cancer drugs below. How to pronounce the drug names are in brackets.
polatuzumab vedotin (poh-lah-too-zoo-mab veh-doh-tin)
rituximab (rih-tuk-sih-mab)
cyclophosphamide (sike-low-foss-fa-mide)
doxorubicin (docs-oh-roo-bih-sin)
prednisolone (pred-nis-oh-lone)
Read more about diffuse large B cell lymphoma
Polatuzumab vedotin is a type of with a chemotherapy drug attached to it. Monoclonal antibodies seek out cancer cells by targeting particular proteins on the cell surface.
Polatuzumab vedotin targets a protein called CD79b that is found on the surface of B cells. Polatuzumab vedotin sticks to the CD79b protein and delivers the chemotherapy drug into the cell. The drug then kills the cell.
Rituximab is another type of monoclonal antibody. It targets a protein known as CD20. CD20 is found on B cells.
Cyclophosphamide and doxorubicin are chemotherapy drugs. These drugs destroy quickly dividing cells, such as cancer cells.
Prednisolone is a type of steroid. It treats lymphoma by stopping the cancer cells growing and killing them. It may also help you feel less sick during treatment. And help reduce your body’s immune response, to try and prevent an allergic reaction to rituximab.
You take prednisolone as tablets. You swallow the tablets whole after a meal, or with milk, as they can irritate your stomach. It is best to take them in the morning after breakfast.
You have all the other drugs into your bloodstream (intravenously).
You must take tablets according to the instructions your doctor or pharmacist gives you.
Speak to your pharmacist if you have problems swallowing the tablets.
You should take the right dose, no more or less.
Talk to your healthcare team before you stop taking a cancer drug or if you miss a dose.
You might have treatment through a long plastic tube that goes into a large vein in your chest. The tube stays in place throughout the course of treatment. This can be a:
central line
PICC line
Portacath
You might have treatment through a thin short tube (a cannula) that goes into a vein in your arm. You have a new cannula each time you have treatment.
When you are having this treatment through a cannula it could damage the tissue if it leaks out of the vein. This is called extravasation. This can happen anywhere along the vein that the drug is going into. It doesn’t happen very often. Tell your nurse straight away if you notice any changes such as swelling, a change in skin colour, pain, burning, or a stinging feeling.
Your nurse will stop the drug treatment. And they will treat the area to relieve symptoms and reduce tissue damage. Contact your healthcare team if you develop any of these symptoms when you are at home.
Read more about having cancer drugs into a vein
You have Pola-R-CHP as cycles of treatment. This means that you have the drugs and then a rest to allow your body to recover.
Each cycle lasts 3 weeks (21 days). You usually have 6 cycles.
Rituximab can cause an allergic reaction. So before each dose you have paracetamol, a steroid and an antihistamine drug such as chlorphenamine (Piriton).
For the first cycle of rituximab, you have it as a drip into your bloodstream slowly over a few hours. This is to prevent an allergic reaction. Your nurse will increase how fast it goes in (rate) approximately every 30 minutes if you have no allergic reaction.
Your next rituximab drip will usually go in quicker, but this will depend on how you got on with the first cycle.
The first time you have polatuzumab vedotin, you have it over around 90 minutes. This is to make sure you don’t have an allergic reaction. Your next polatuzumab vedotin drip will usually go in quicker depending on how you got on with the first cycle.
Your healthcare team monitors you closely for any allergic reaction each time you have the drug.
You usually also have a drug called granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF). This makes your produce more quickly after the chemotherapy. It helps lower your risk of getting an infection after having this treatment.
Your healthcare team will let you know what day to start your G-CSF injections.
Some hospitals vary in the way that they give cycle 1. You can check with the team looking after you.
Exactly how you have your drugs may depend on your circumstances. The following is an example:
• You have prednisolone as tablets 30 minutes before rituximab.
• You have rituximab as a drip into your bloodstream over a few hours.
• You have polatuzumab vedotin as a drip into your bloodstream over about 30 minutes.
• You have cyclophosphamide as a slow injection into your bloodstream or over about 30 minutes.
• You have doxorubicin as a slow injection into your bloodstream over about 10 minutes.
• You have prednisolone as tablets in the morning.
• You have no treatment.
You then start the next cycle of treatment.
You have blood tests before and during your treatment. They check your levels of blood cells and other substances in the blood. They also check how well your liver and kidneys are working.
Before treatment starts you may have a blood test to check for viruses such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV. This is called a viral screen.
It’s important for your doctor to know if you have had any of these viruses. This is because this treatment can weaken your and can cause the virus to become active again (reactivation).
You may also have tests to check how well your heart works.
Side effects can vary from person to person. They also depend on what other treatments you're having.
Your doctor, nurse or pharmacist will go through the possible side effects. They will monitor you during treatment and check how you are at your appointments. Contact your advice line as soon as possible if:
you have severe side effects
your side effects aren’t getting any better
your side effects are getting worse
Early treatment can help manage side effects better.
We haven't listed all the side effects here. Talk to your healthcare team if you have any new symptoms that you think might be a side effect of your treatment.
Remember it is very unlikely that you will have all of these side effects. But you might have some of them at the same time.
These side effects happen in more than 10 in 100 people (more than 10%). You might have one or more of them. They include:
Increased risk of getting an infection is due to a drop in white blood cells. Or it may be caused by lower levels of antibodies called immunoglobulins, which protect against infection in the blood. Symptoms include a change in temperature, aching muscles, cough, headaches, feeling cold and shivery, pain or burning feeling when peeing, or generally feeling unwell. You might have other symptoms depending on where the infection is.
Infections can sometimes be life threatening. You should contact your advice line urgently if you think you have an infection.
Sepsis happens when your body has an overwhelming response to an infection. Symptoms include:
Slurred speech or confusion
Extreme shivering or muscle pain
Passing no urine (in a day)
Severe breathlessness
It feels like you’re going to die
Skin mottled or discoloured
You might have to take an anti viral drug to prevent shingles (herpes zoster virus).
Numbness or tingling in fingers or toes can be temporary and usually improves after you finish treatment. But sometimes it can be permanent.
Some people have nerve pain. It is also called neuropathic pain. It can feel like a burning, shooting or tingling pain, or a feeling of crawling under their skin.
You may also have difficulty walking or changes to the way you walk. This can be caused by uncontrolled body movements or weak muscles.
Tell your healthcare team if you're finding it difficult to walk, feel, complete fiddly tasks such as doing up buttons or if you have nerve pain.
You might develop a cough or breathing problems. This could be due to infection, such as pneumonia, or inflammation of the lungs (pneumonitis).
Let your doctor or nurse know straight away if you suddenly become breathless, develop a cough, or have chest pain.
You might be breathless and look pale due to a drop in red blood cells. This is called anaemia.
This is due to a drop in the number of platelets in your blood. These blood cells help the blood to clot when we cut ourselves. You may have nosebleeds or bleeding gums after brushing your teeth. Or you may have lots of tiny red spots or bruises on your arms or legs (known as petechiae).
A reaction may happen during the infusion or a few hours afterwards. Symptoms can include a skin rash, itching, swelling of the lips, face or throat, breathing difficulties, fever and chills. Your nurse will give you medicines beforehand to try to prevent a reaction.
Tell your doctor or nurse immediately if at any time you feel unwell. They will slow or stop your drip for a while and give you medicine to help relieve your symptoms.
A build up of fluid may cause swelling in your arms, hands, ankles, legs, face, tummy and other parts of the body.
Contact your healthcare team if this happens to you.
Feeling or being sick is usually well controlled with anti sickness medicines. It might help to avoid fatty or fried foods, eat small meals and snacks and take regular sips of water. Relaxation techniques might also help.
It is important to take anti sickness medicines as prescribed even if you don’t feel sick. It is easier to prevent sickness rather than treat it once it has started.
You may notice changes in your skin, such as dryness, itching, rashes, reddening and it might also be more sensitive to sunlight. You may also notice nail changes such as your nails separating from your nail beds.
Less commonly, you might have darkened nails or skin or hives. If you’ve had radiotherapy in the past, the area might get sore and inflamed.
If your skin gets dry or itchy, applying an unperfumed moisturising cream may help. Check with your healthcare team before using any creams or lotions. Wear a high factor sunblock if you’re going out in the sun.
Very rarely you might have a severe skin reaction that may start as tender red patches which leads to peeling or blistering of the skin. You might also feel feverish and your eyes may be more sensitive to light. This is serious and could be life threatening.
You could lose all your hair. This includes your eyelashes, eyebrows, underarms, legs and sometimes pubic hair. Your hair will usually grow back once treatment has finished but it is likely to be softer. It may grow back a different colour or be curlier than before.
You might feel that you have to pass urine more often than usual or find it difficult to pass urine. And you may have a burning feeling when you do. Or you might feel that you can't wait when you need to go. This is called cystitis.
It helps to drink plenty of fluids. Don't take any over the counter medicines for cystitis. Contact your advice line instead.
Tell your healthcare team if you have soreness. They can prescribe medicines to help.
You might also have blood in your urine.
You might feel very tired and as though you lack energy.
Various things can help you to reduce tiredness and cope with it, for example exercise. Some research has shown that taking gentle exercise can give you more energy. It is important to balance exercise with resting.
Tell your healthcare team if you keep getting headaches. They can give you painkillers to help.
You might get a sore mouth and mouth ulcers. It may be painful to swallow drinks or food. You might have mouth washes to keep your mouth healthy.
You can have painkillers to reduce the soreness, but check with your team that it’s ok to take them first. Take them half an hour before meals to make eating easier.
Less commonly, you might have inflammation of the food pipe (oesophagus) or bowel.
Contact your advice line if you have this. Depending on what is causing the pain, they might give you medicine to help.
Contact your doctor or pharmacist if you have indigestion or heartburn. They can prescribe medicines to help.
Tell your healthcare team if you have diarrhoea or constipation. They can give you medicine to help.
The skin on your hands and feet may become sore, red, or may peel. You may also have tingling, numbness, pain and dryness. This is called hand-foot syndrome or palmar plantar syndrome.
Moisturise your skin regularly. Your healthcare team will tell you what moisturiser to use.
This treatment can affect how well your heart works. This can be changes in the rhythm of your heart, or changes in how well your heart can pump blood around your body (heart failure). You might have tests to check how well your heart is working.
Less commonly this treatment might cause a heart attack. Symptoms include an overwhelming pain in the chest that might feel heavy, tight or as through its squeezing the chest. Other symptoms of a heart attack include feeling lightheaded, dizzy, pain in different parts of the body, sweating or anxious.
Rarely, you might have a thickened, stiff or stretched heart muscle. Or you might develop inflammation of the heart. This can cause chest pain or shortness of breath.
Dial 999 for the emergency services or contact your healthcare team straight away if you have any of these symptoms.
You might have liver changes that are usually mild and unlikely to cause symptoms. They usually go back to normal when treatment finishes.
Rarely, you might have more serious damage to your liver. Tell your doctor or nurse straight away if you have any tummy pain, feeling sick, dark urine, pale stools, or yellowing of your skin and the whites of your eyes.
You have regular blood tests to check for any changes in the way your liver is working.
Low levels of potassium in the blood is called hypokalaemia. Regular blood tests will check for this.
Let your doctor or nurse know if you have cramping in your arm or leg muscles, tingling or numbness, palpitations (feeling your heart beat irregularly), or if you feel faint.
You may have changes to your blood sugar levels (hyperglycaemia). Symptoms might include feeling very thirsty, a dry mouth, passing urine very often, feeling tired, blurred vision, weight loss, feeling or being sick, and fruity smelling breath.
You have regular blood and urine tests to check this. If you have diabetes you may need to check your blood sugar levels more often than usual.
You might not feel like eating and may lose weight. Eating several small meals and snacks throughout the day can be easier to manage. You can talk to a dietitian if you are concerned about your appetite or weight loss.
Prednisolone may cause an increased appetite and can cause you to gain weight.
Taste changes may make you go off certain foods and drinks. You may also find that some foods taste different from usual or that you prefer to eat spicier foods. Your taste gradually returns to normal a few weeks after your treatment finishes.
You might have chills. Let your doctor know if you have this. They may be able to prescribe medicines to help.
You might get a high temperature (fever) for a few hours after having this treatment. Tell your doctor or nurse if you have a fever.
Blood clots can develop in the deep veins of your body, usually the leg. This is called deep vein thrombosis (DVT). A blood clot can be very serious if it travels to your lungs (pulmonary embolism), although this isn’t common.
Symptoms of a blood clot include:
pain, redness and swelling around the area where the clot is and may feel warm to touch
breathlessness
pain in your chest or upper back – dial 999 if you have chest pain
coughing up blood
Tell your doctor immediately or go to A&E if you have any symptoms of a blood clot.
High uric acid levels in the blood are due to the breakdown of tumour cells (tumour lysis syndrome). You will have regular blood tests to check your uric acid levels and may have a tablet called allopurinol to take. Drinking plenty of fluids helps to flush out the excess uric acid.
You might have red or pink urine. This won't harm you. It’s due to the colour of the chemotherapy and lasts for one or two days.
These side effects happen in between 1 and 10 out of every 100 people (between 1 and 10%). You might have one or more of them. They include:
increase or decrease of levels of certain enzymes and proteins in the blood
low calcium levels in the blood causing symptoms such as painful muscle spasms and cramps, twitching of muscles, numbness or tingling in feet and hands or around the mouth
low levels of phosphate in the blood – you have blood tests to check for this
you might feel depressed, agitated or anxious, or have mood swings. Steroids like prednisolone can cause a change in mental health, such as seeing or hearing things that aren’t there (hallucinations), losing touch with reality (delusions), or having suicidal thoughts. Speak to your doctor or nurse straight away if this happens
difficulty falling or staying asleep (insomnia)
low blood pressure that can cause you to feel lightheaded or dizzy, sometimes this can happen when you stand up from sitting or lying down
high blood pressure – symptoms can include blurred vision, nosebleeds, dizziness, headaches, shortness of breath and chest pain
bleeding from different parts of your body. More rarely you might notice blood in your poo or in your sick
a blocked, runny or itchy nose, or sneezing
eye changes such as dry or watery eyes or red, sore, itchy eyes (conjunctivitis). Rarely you might have blurred vision
increased pressure in the eyes (glaucoma). Prednisolone can also make existing glaucoma worse
ringing or buzzing in the ears (tinnitus) or ear pain. Rarely, you might have deafness. This can be temporary or permanent
pain, such as in your muscles, joints, back or neck or pain in an area where your lymphoma is
difficulty swallowing
throat irritation
sweating or night sweats
dizziness
muscle stiffness
feeling generally unwell
flushing - sudden reddening and warmth of the neck, upper chest and face
weakened bones that are fragile and more likely to break (osteoporosis) caused by prednisolone
wounds may take longer to heal when you are taking prednisolone
These side effects happen in fewer than 1 in 100 people (less than 1%). You might have one or more of them. They include:
swollen
low levels of female sex hormones
not having enough fluid in your body (dehydration)
a blood disorder where your bone marrow doesn’t make enough essential blood cells (aplastic anaemia)
a blood disorder where your red blood cells get destroyed faster than they can be made (haemolytic anaemia)
a condition called cytokine release syndrome – when your immune system makes a large amount of . Symptoms include fever, chills, a headache, difficulty breathing, and dizziness
second cancers such as acute lymphocytic leukaemia, acute myeloid leukaemia or bladder cancer may occur years later
low oxygen levels in the blood (hypoxia)
your body making too much antidiuretic hormone (ADH) – this can lead to low levels of sodium in your blood
fits (seizures)
There isn't enough information to work out how often these side effects might happen. You might have one or more of them. They include:
a rare disorder of the nerves causing headaches, fits, confusion and changes in vision - contact your healthcare team straight away. This condition is usually reversible
if you already have a condition called scleroderma, prednisolone increases your risk of a kidney disorder that can cause very high blood pressure and decreased urine production. In severe cases this can cause seizures. Your healthcare team will discuss this with you if you are at risk
If you have side effects that aren't listed on this page, you can look at the individual drug pages:
Polatuzumab vedotin is a new drug in cancer treatment. So there is limited information available at the moment about possible rare and longer term effects that it may cause. Tell your doctor if you notice anything that is not normal for you.
We have more information about side effects and tips on how to cope with them.
Read more about how to cope with side effects
Cancer drugs can interact with medicines, herbal products, and some food and drinks. We are unable to list all the possible interactions that may happen. An example is grapefruit or grapefruit juice which can increase the side effects of certain drugs.
Tell your healthcare team about any medicines you are taking. This includes vitamins, herbal supplements and over the counter remedies. Also let them know about any other medical conditions or allergies you may have.
You may not be able to become pregnant or get someone pregnant after treatment with these drugs. Talk to your doctor before starting treatment if you think you may want to have a baby in the future.
Men might be able to store sperm before starting treatment. And women might be able to store eggs or ovarian tissue. But these services are not available in every hospital, so you would need to ask your doctor about this.
This treatment may harm a baby developing in the womb. It is important not to become pregnant or get someone pregnant while you are having treatment.
Women must not become pregnant for at least a year after the end of treatment. Men should not get someone pregnant for at least 6 months after treatment.
Talk to your doctor or nurse about effective contraception before starting treatment. Let them know straight away if you or your partner become pregnant while having treatment.
Don’t breastfeed during this treatment and for 6 months afterwards. The drug may come through in the breast milk.
If you are having tests or treatment for anything else, always mention your cancer treatment. For example, if you are visiting your dentist.
Don’t have immunisations with live vaccines while you’re having treatment and for up to 12 months afterwards. The length of time depends on the treatment you are having.
Ask your doctor or pharmacist how long you should avoid live vaccinations.
In the UK, live vaccines include rubella, mumps, measles, BCG, and yellow fever.
You can usually have:
other vaccines, but they might not give you as much protection as usual
the flu vaccine (as an injection)
the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine
Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about the best time to have a vaccine in relation to your cancer treatment.
You can be in contact with other people who have had live vaccines as injections. If someone has had a live vaccine by mouth or nasal spray there may be a small risk the vaccine virus can be passed onto you if your immune system is weakened.
Your healthcare team will let you know if you need to take any precautions if you are in close contact with someone who has had a live vaccine.
Read more about immunisations and cancer treatment
For further information about each drug and the possible side effects go to the electronic Medicines Compendium (eMC) website. You can find the patient information leaflet on this website.
You can report any side effect you have to the Medicines Health and Regulatory Authority (MHRA) as part of their Yellow Card Scheme.
Last reviewed: 13 Oct 2025
Next review due: 13 Oct 2028
Diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is a type of high grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). DLBCL grows quickly and your treatment starts soon after diagnosis.
Cancer drugs have side effects, these can vary from person to person. Find out about the different side effects and how to cope.
Coping with cancer can be difficult. There is help and support available. Find out about the emotional, physical and practical effects of cancer and how to manage them.
Targeted cancer drugs work by ‘targeting’ the differences that help a cancer cell to survive and grow. There are many different types of targeted drugs.
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