Which phase uses lower doses of chemotherapy to prevent relapse?

• A. Induction
• B. Consolidation
• C. Salvage
• D. Maintenance

Answer: (D)

Maintenance therapy focuses on keeping the cancer in check after remission by giving ongoing, lower-dose chemotherapy over an extended period. This approach aims to suppress any remaining cancer cells and prevent relapse while limiting toxicity, since the doses are smaller and the treatment spans months to years. It’s the opposite of induction, which uses high-dose therapy to induce remission; consolidation, which intensifies treatment to solidify remission; and salvage, which is used after relapse with regimens that can be more aggressive or different. In practice, maintenance is chosen specifically to reduce the risk of relapse by sustaining control over the disease with a gentler, chronic approach.