Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherapy may be given with a curative intent, or it may aim to prolong life or to reduce symptoms. Chemotherapy is one of the major categories of the medical discipline specifically devoted to pharmacotherapy for cancer, which is called medical oncology.
Full Answer
What is the most commonly used chemotherapy drug?
- Erlotinib (Tarceva)
- Imatinib mesylate (Gleevec)
- Irinotecan (Camptosar)
- Sorafinib (Nexavar)
- Sunitinib (Sutent)
- Topotecan (Hycamtin)
- Vincristine (Oncovin, Vincasar PFS)
- Vinblastine (Velban)
- Rituximab (Rituxan)
- Bleomycin (is an antibiotic)
What drugs do you use while on chemo?
what drugs do you use to overcome the bad side effects of chemo ? I am using 1, Norco (Hydrocodone) 2, Codeine 3, Morphine pill 4, Ambien (sleep ) tried medical marijuana and hated it, extra strength Tylenol is helpful, lots of laxative and stool softener, drink lots of water, my regular steroid, Dexamethasone or Prednisone .
Why do chemotherapy drugs cost so much?
Why Are Cancer Drugs So Expensive? The high cost of cancer drugs is related to numerous factors. It is very expensive to move findings from bench to bedside and to perform all the regulatory studies (including phase 1, 2, and 3 clinical trials) to gain approval.
What you should know about chemotherapy drugs?
Some common side effects of oral chemotherapy drugs include:
- hair loss
- skin changes
- sores in the mouth
- easy bruising
- feeling tired
- infection or flu-like symptoms
- nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea
How chemotherapy medications are effective in treating cancer?
Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to destroy cancer cells. It usually works by keeping the cancer cells from growing, dividing, and making more cells. Because cancer cells usually grow and divide faster than normal cells, chemotherapy has more of an effect on cancer cells.
What medication is used to treat chemotherapy?
These drugs are called antimetabolites. Doctors often use them to treat leukemia and cancer in the breasts, ovaries, and intestines. Drugs in this group include 5-fluorouracil, 6-mercaptopurine, cytarabine, gemcitabine, and methotrexate, among many others.
What is chemotherapy and how does it work?
Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to destroy cancer cells. This type of cancer treatment works by keeping cancer cells from growing, dividing, and making more cells. Chemotherapy can be used as a treatment for many different cancers.
How are chemotherapy drugs made?
Some chemotherapy drugs are derived from natural sources such as bacteria and plants, while others are made using synthetic processes. There are more than 100 types of chemotherapy drugs on the market approved for different types of cancer.
How does chemotherapy work?
Chemotherapy works by stopping or slowing the growth of cancer cells, which grow and divide quickly. Chemotherapy is used to: Chemotherapy can be used to cure cancer, lessen the chance it will return, or stop or slow its growth. Chemotherapy can be used to shrink tumors that are causing pain and other problems.
What is the treatment for cancer?
Who Receives Chemotherapy . Chemotherapy is used to treat many types of cancer. For some people, chemotherapy may be the only treatment you receive. But most often, you will have chemotherapy and other cancer treatments.
What is the term for a tumor that is smaller before surgery?
Make a tumor smaller before surgery or radiation therapy. This is called neoadjuvant chemotherapy . Destroy cancer cells that may remain after treatment with surgery or radiation therapy. This is called adjuvant chemotherapy. Help other treatments work better.
How long can a catheter be left in place for chemo?
This needle can be left in place for chemotherapy treatments that are given for longer than one day. Be sure to watch for signs of infection around your port.
How does chemo work?
Chemotherapy to Treat Cancer. Chemotherapy works against cancer by killing fast-growing cancer cells. Chemotherapy (also called chemo) is a type of cancer treatment that uses drugs to kill cancer cells.
Where do you put a catheter in a chemo patient?
A catheter is a thin, soft tube. A doctor or nurse places one end of the catheter in a large vein, often in your chest area. The other end of the catheter stays outside your body. Most catheters stay in place until you have finished your chemotherapy treatments.
How long is a cycle of chemotherapy?
For instance, you might receive chemotherapy every day for 1 week followed by 3 weeks with no chemotherapy. These 4 weeks make up one cycle. The rest period gives your body a chance to recover and build new healthy cells.
What is the most commonly used agent in chemotherapy?
Alkylating agents were among the first anti-cancer drugs and are the most commonly used agents in chemotherapy today. Alkylating agents act directly on DNA, causing cross-linking of DNA strands, abnormal base pairing, or DNA strand breaks, thus preventing the cell from dividing.
How do drugs in the same class kill cancer cells?
Drugs in the same class kill cancer cells by the same mechanism: they all attack the same target within the cell. Depending on the type of cancer and the kind of drug used, chemotherapy drugs may be administered differently.
How do antimetabolites affect the function of enzymes?
Antimetabolites replace natural substances as building blocks in DNA molecules, thereby altering the function of enzymes required for cell metabolism and protein synthesis. In other words, they mimic nutrients that the cell needs to grow, tricking the cell into consuming them, so it eventually starves to death.
What are the weapons used to fight cancer?
Just like scalpels, lasers, and electric currents are used in surgery, the weapons used to fight cancer in chemotherapy are a host of anti-cancer drugs. How differently these drugs kill cancer cells, or prevent them from dividing, depends on their classification. Drugs in the same class kill cancer cells by the same mechanism: they all attack ...
What are some examples of plant alkaloids used in chemo?
Examples of plant alkaloids used in chemotherapy are actinomycin D, doxorubicin, and mitomycin.
What are antitumor antibiotics?
They act by binding with DNA and preventing RNA ( ribonucleic acid) synthesis, a key step in the creation of proteins, which are necessary for cell survival. They are not the same as antibiotics used to treat bacterial infections. Rather, these drugs cause the strands of genetic material that make up DNA to uncoil, thereby preventing the cell from reproducing. Doxorubicin, mitoxantrone, and bleomycin are some examples of antitumor antibiotics.
What is the purpose of alkylating agents?
Although alkylating agents may be used for most types of cancer, they are generally of greatest value in treating slow-growing cancers.
What are the main categories of chemotherapy drugs?
your personal preferences. Chemotherapy drugs are broadly classified based on their mode of action. The main categories include: alkylating agents. plant alkaloids (topoisomerase inhibitors and mitotic inhibitors) anti-metabolites. anti-tumor antibiotics.
What is the most common drug used for chemo?
According to the National Cancer Institute, alkylating agents are the most common category of drugs used in chemotherapy today. Alkylating agents damage the DNA of cancer cells and prevent them from dividing. Some of the drugs that fall into this category include: chlorambucil. cyclophosphamide.
What cancers are chemotherapy used for?
Type of chemotherapy. Cancer it may be used to treat. alkylating agents. multiple myeloma sarcoma. Hodgkin’s disease. lung cancer. breast cancer.
What is the treatment for cancer?
Cancer is a large group of conditions caused by the rapid division of abnormal cells. Chemotherapy is one treatment option that involves receiving medication that keeps cancer cells from spreading.
How many chemotherapy drugs are approved for cancer?
One 2017 study. Trusted Source. showed that the FDA approved at least 150 chemotherapy drugs to treat cancer.
What are the different types of cancers that are treated with corticosteroids?
lung cancer. colorectal cancer. ovarian cancer. prostate cancer. Corticosteroids, or just steroids, are hormone-like drugs used in the treatment of many illnesses. They may be used during chemotherapy to directly treat cancer or help prevent gastric side effects and allergic reactions caused by other drugs.
What are antimetabolites used for?
Some drugs that fall in this category include: azacitidine. clofarabine. floxuridine. Anti-metabolites are often used to treat these cancers among others: breast cancer . leukemia.
How Many Types of Chemotherapy Drugs Are There?
There are more than 100 types of chemotherapy drugs. The main types are: 2 3
How Chemotherapy Treats Cancer
Every time any new cell is formed, it goes through a usual process to become a fully functioning cell. The process involves a series of phases and is called the cell cycle. Cancer cells go through the same process. Chemotherapy drugs work by targeting cells at different phases of the cell cycle. 1
The Cancers That Chemotherapy Treats
Chemotherapy can treat a wide variety of cancers. Typically, chemotherapy is used when surgery is not an option or it's performed after surgery. Cancers that can be treated by chemotherapy include:
The Ways Chemotherapy Is Given to Patients
When receiving chemotherapy, the drugs may come in the following forms: 8
Side Effects of the Types of Chemotherapy
Nausea and vomiting are often the most common side effects. In some cases, they can be so severe that they lead to an inability to absorb nutrients, weight loss, low red blood cell count ( anemia ), fatigue, and an increased risk of sepsis, where the body's response to an infection damages its own tissues. 10
What to Expect From Treatment
If you are receiving chemotherapy in the hospital, you may want to bring some personal items with you, such as a book to read or a blanket to keep you warm. Having a friend or family member with you during your first treatment session will also be helpful for remembering important information and getting moral support.
Summary
Chemotherapy helps disrupt the process through which cancer cells make copies of themselves. There are more than 100 types of chemotherapy drugs, with the main types being alkylating agents, antimetabolites, anti-tumor antibiotics, topoisomerase inhibitors, and more. They target different parts of the cell replicating process.
What is the treatment of cancer called?
Chemotherapy is the use of chemical agents to kill cells. In conversational usage, the term chemotherapy refers to the chemical treatment of cancer. But chemical agents are also used to treat multiple sclerosis (MS), various autoimmune diseases, and even arthritis.
What is the future of chemo?
The future of chemotherapy involves the development of chemical agents that can target malignant cells more precisely . This will reduce or eliminate healthy cell damage, resulting in fewer side effects . Researchers are also hard at work developing chemotherapy drugs aimed at treating slow-growing malignancies that are currently less sensitive to chemical agents.
What happens when a cell accepts a masked antimetabolite?
When a cell accepts the masked anti-metabolites, it becomes unable to incorporate genuine purine into its DNA. This results in cellular DNA damage. Anti-metabolites are among the most widely used chemotherapeutic drugs.
Who were the two pharmacologists who were involved in the discovery of nitrogen mustard?
In the 1940s, the United States Department of Defense recruited two pharmacologists, Louis S. Goodman and Alfred Gilman, to research the therapeutic properties of chemical warfare agents. Autopsy findings involving people exposed to nitrogen mustard (mustard gas) unveiled conditions in the body conducive to tumor suppression.
Can chemo affect cells?
Although side effect management has come along way in recent years, chemotherapy drugs still affect healthy cells. Sometimes the effects of cell damage are temporary, but sometimes they are long-term or even permanent. Talk to your doctor about what to expect from your chemotherapeutic drugs.
Types of chemotherapy
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved at least 61 cytotoxic drugs for cancer to date. These drugs can be broadly classified based on their mode of action (the way they work in the cell).
Risks and side effects
Though chemotherapy mainly acts on rapidly dividing cancer cells, it can also damage or kill other cells in the body, especially:
Alternative options to cancer treatment
Chemotherapy is often used in combination with other therapies, such as surgery, radiation, or hormone therapy.
Frequently asked questions
Chemotherapy is often given by intravenous (IV) injection, meaning that a needle is inserted directly into a vein. The medication can also be injected into a muscle (intramuscular injection) or under the skin (subcutaneous injection).
The bottom line
Chemotherapy drugs are one of several treatment options for cancer. These types of drugs work by destroying rapidly dividing cancer cells.
How often is chemo given?
Chemotherapy is commonly given at regular intervals called cycles. A cycle may be adose of one or more drugs on one or more days, followed by several days or weekswithout treatment. This gives normal cells time to recover from drug side effects.Sometimes, doses may be given a certain number of days in a row, or every other dayfor several days, followed by a period of rest. Some drugs work best when givencontinuously over a set number of days.
Is chemotherapy a good option for cancer?
If your doctor has recommended chemotherapy as an option to treat your cancer, it’simportant to understand the goals of treatment when making treatment decisions. Thereare three main goals for chemotherapy (chemo) in cancer treatment:
Can chemo help with cancer?
If a cure is not possible, the goal of cancer treatment may be to control the disease. Inthese cases, chemo is used to shrink tumors and /or stop the cancer from growing andspreading. This can help the person with cancer feel better and live longer.
Is chemotherapy safe for cancer patients?
Most chemotherapy (chemo) drugs are strong medicines that have a fairly narrow rangefor dose safety and effectiveness. Taking too little of a drug will not treat the cancer welland taking too much may cause life-threatening side effects. For this reason, doctorsmust calculate chemo doses very carefully.
Chemotherapy Works with The Cell Cycle
- Every time any new cell is formed, it goes through a usual process to become a fully functioning (or mature) cell. The process involves a series of phases and is called the cell cycle. Chemotherapy drugs target cells at different phases of the cell cycle. Understanding how these drugs work helps doctors predict which drugs are likely to work well t...
Types of Chemo Drugs
- Chemo drugs can be grouped by how they work, their chemical structure, and their relationships to other drugs. Some drugs work in more than one way, and may belong to more than one group. (Note: not all chemotherapy drugs are listed here.) Knowing how the drug works is important in predicting side effects from it. This helps doctors decide which drugs are likely to work well toge…
Other Types of Drugs Used to Treat Cancer
- Other drugs and biological treatments are used to treat cancer, but aren’t considered chemotherapy. They often have different side effects than chemotherapy. Many are used along with surgery, chemo, or radiation therapy.