WHAT ARE DIFFERENT CHEMOTHERAPY DRUGS ?

Chemotherapy is a drug or a chemical that is used to kill tumor cells. It may also kill the healthy cells, as well. These can be taken either orally, injected in the muscles or under skin or into the vein. The drugs are absorbed into the blood and circulated through out the body. Doctors may recommend one or combination of drugs, according to the requirement.

 

Here are a few of the different types of chemotherapy drugs:

 

Alkylating Agents: Used to damage the DNA within the cancer cell, and thus does not allow the cancer cell to reproduce. Works in all phases of cancer. Best suited for chronic leukemia, Hodgkin's disease, non Hodgkin lymphoma, lung cancer, breast cancer and several other types.

 

Nitrosoureas: Interferes with the enzymes working in the cell to copy and repair DNA. Works in various stages of cancer. Best suited for brain tumors, and other forms of cancer.

 

Antimetabolites: Harms the DNA and RNA growth in cells. Works best in S phase of cancer and can be used to treat breast cancer, ovary cancer, gastrointestinal tract cancers, as well as leukemia.

 

Anthracyclines and Related Medications: Fight against the tumor using enzymes, necessary for DNA replication. Work in all stages of cancer. Used in wide range of cancers.

 

Antitumor antibiotics: Blocks certain enzyme and cancer cell changes, thus affecting DNA. Are cell cycle specific and act during multiple phase of cell cycle.

 

Other Chemotherapy Drugs
Other drugs used in cancer therapy include:

 

Hormonal agents: Aims at the hormonal processes that stimulate cancer cell growth and/or survival.

 

Biological agents: Affects natural processes that stimulate cancer cell growth and survival.

 

Immunotherapy: Improves the recognition of cancer cells by body's immune system, thus killing cancer cells.

 

Cellular therapy: Uses immunologic cells that destroy cancer cells.

 

Signal transduction inhibitors: Damages abnormal processes present within cancer cells and necessary for growth or survival of cancer cells.

 

Radiopharmaceuticals: Marked with radioactive markers to deliver radiation therapy to cancer cells.

 

Anticancer antibodies: Specially engineered antibodies offered to target cancer cells for removal by immune system.

 

Anticancer vaccines: Possess agents to help the immune system more readily recognize cancer cells as foreign.

 

Anticancer viral therapies: Gives viruses that kill cancer cells to patients. Highly experimental.