BANGLADESH

Writer Humayun Ahmed's first cycle of chemotherapy ended around 10:30pm Bangladesh standard time on Saturday.

The cycle had begun around 12:30am Friday BdST"Each session takes around 48 hours," said Humayun's publisher Mazharul Islam.

As an early side-effect of chemotherapy, the chief executive of Anyaprokash said the writer had a slight loss of appetite. "But he has been taking his meals regularly."

Anyaprokash CEO Mazharul Islam flew to New York on Sep 13 along with Humayun Ahmed's family.

The famed author was diagnosed with colon cancer during a regular check-up at Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital earlier this month.

Humayun is undergoing treatment at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre at Manhattan where a device been implanted into the body below the right collar bone. But the needle and the cannula has been removed.

"This is a modern method of administering chemo, and doctors say the side effects are much less," said Mazhar, who is attending Humayun.

Mazharul explained to bdnews24.com that the writer was administered chemotherapy with two drugs and needs to be physically present at the hospital for three hours. "The rest of it is administered through a cannula. We will have that removed today around noon (10:30pm BdST).

He said Humayun will have to go through six such fortnightly cycles of chemo. "The next one will begin 11 days later, which makes it once every fourteen days more or less."

While the writer may go through some minor tests after completing his first cycle, there won't be any major tests until another cycle to see how he is doing.

However, after completion of four cycles, the doctors will conduct another round of thorough tests to revaluate Humayun's condition. "That will essentially determine the next course of action."

Depending on the response, the doctors may choose to continue with the chemotherapy or go for surgery. "However, nothing can be said as yet. They will check to see if his colon tumour has shrunk and whether the liver spots are going away."

When asked whether the cancer had spread to other organs, Mazhar said, "Well there are spots in the liver but doctors have not yet ascertained if they are cancerous."

As regards the stage of Humayun's cancer, the publisher said doctors were not quite forthcoming. "But it is not a primary stage either."