[Verse 1]
Prima la chemio — before we cut the line,
Neoadjuvant shrinks the mass, buys precious time,
Watch how the tumor answers, watch it slowly bend,
A dress rehearsal staged before the surgeon's hand.
Dopo la surgery, adjuvant sweeps the floor,
Microscopic stragglers hiding behind the door,
Perioperative plays it on both sides of the clock —
Prima e dopo, that's the running rock.
[Chorus]
Prima, dopo, chemio, insieme,
Timing is the secret, cara, questo è il tema,
FOLFOX, FLOT, FOLFIRINOX we sing,
Perioperative is covering everything,
Sai? Before and after, dancing hand in hand,
Chemotherapy for surgeons — capisci, understand.
[Verse 2]
FOLFOX for the stage three colon, oxaliplatin's crew,
FLOT walks the gastric patient steady, straight on through,
mFOLFIRINOX, PRODIGE twenty-four's the name,
Pancreatic cancer's fiercest, most relentless game.
Three regimens, three battles, memorize the set,
The surgeon who forgets the drugs will live to regret.
[Verse 3]
Doxorubicin whispers trouble to the heart,
Cuore mio weakens, the pump falls apart,
Bleomycin scars the lung with quiet fibrosis thread —
Keep the oxygen low, or anesthesia turns to dread.
Cisplatin, ototoxic, it steals the sound you hear,
And drags the kidneys downward, a toxin to revere.
[Bridge]
Oxaliplatin, vincristine — tingling fingers, numb degree,
Nerve damage creeping, piano piano, carefully,
Oxaliplatin, irinotecan, the liver takes the hit,
Hepatotoxic shadows on the organ, don't forget it.
Bevacizumab — sei settimane, hold it still,
Six weeks before the surgeon's blade, or the wound won't heal,
Bowel perforation, risk of leak and tear —
Pause the drug, prima dell'operazione, surgeon beware.
[Verse 4]
Irinotecan brings diarrhea, cramping through the night,
UGT1A1 slow metabolizers feel the fight,
Methotrexate folds the mouth in sores of aching white,
Mucositis burning, leucovorin brings the light.
Taxanes, paclitaxel, neuropathy's cruel friend,
Steroids premedicate before the infusion's end,
Anthracycline limits, lifetime doses hold the line,
Cardiotoxicity counted, dose by dose, by time.
Know your patient, know the drug, know the window too,
Multidisciplinary voices guiding what to do.
[Chorus]
Prima, dopo, chemio, insieme,
Timing is the secret, cara, questo è il tema,
FOLFOX, FLOT, FOLFIRINOX we sing,
Perioperative is covering everything,
Sai? Before and after, dancing hand in hand,
Chemotherapy for surgeons — capisci, understand.
[Outro]
Complete response, ypT0N0's the prize,
Pathologic silence where the tumor used to lie,
Better outcomes whisper, organ-sparing roads ahead,
Perfetto, surgeon — chemo first before you tread.
Prima, dopo, sempre — carry what you've learned,
Six weeks, watch the nerves, remember what gets burned.