Dosing and scheduling
On-Cycle and Off-Cycle
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The two halves of a cycle. On-cycle is the stretch during which the compound is being taken; off-cycle is the planned gap before any next stretch begins. People frequently describe a whole programme using these two spans alone, which leaves out the amount, the route and everything else that defines it.
Why it matters here
Whether an effect is expected to survive the off-cycle is a genuine question, and for most compounds no record answers it. Some effects fade as the compound leaves; others rest on tissue changes that may outlast it, and which of the two you are dealing with decides whether an off-cycle costs you anything at all.
What it is not
Off-cycle is not a washout, even though the two overlap in time. Off-cycle is a scheduling decision taken in advance, while a washout is an estimated clearance period, and an off-cycle is usually far longer than the washout sitting inside it.
Also called
- on-cycle and off-cycle
- on cycle
- off cycle
- on-cycle
- off-cycle
- oncycle
- offcycle
- on/off
- time on
- time off
- on period
- off period
- time on time off
Time on and time off is the common shorthand. Writing a programme as a pair of numbers is a forum convention, and it describes the calendar while saying nothing about the compound.
Compounds carrying this term
None on file yet. This term is in the controlled vocabulary but no compound record currently uses it — which is a statement about our coverage, not about the term.