What is Chemotherapy?

How Does Chemotherapy Work?

Chemotherapy can be administered in a number of ways, including IV injectables, topicals, or oral consumption, although standard chemo is still the most commonly used solution. In any case, chemotherapy works on the basic premise of killing cancer cells at various stages of their cell cycle.

While chemotherapy drugs do not differentiate healthy and cancerous cells, which is why healthy cells die too, it is a fact that cancer cells grow and mature more quickly. Therefore, the right drugs can be used to target those cells more accurately at the desired phase of their cycle. Chemotherapy drugs may include;

• Alkylating agents(including Altretamine, Cisplatin, and Mechlorethamine) that prevent cancer cells from reproducing.
• Nitrosoureas (including Carmustine, Lomustine, and Streptozocin) that are a subgroup of Alkylating agents that can additionally travel to the brain.
• Antimetabolites (including Azacitidine, Decitabine, and Fludarabine) that interrupt the DNA and RNA of target cells.
• Anthracyclines (including Daunorubicin, Epirubicin, and Valrubicin) that are anti-tumor antibiotics designed to interfere with enzymes.
• Topoisomerase inhibitors (type I and type II inhibitors) that impact enzymes to treat leukemias, lung, ovarian, gastrointestinal, and colorectal cancers.
• Mitotic inhibitors (Taxanes and Vinca alkaloids) that are compounds designed to stop cells from dividing and forming new cells.

Chemotherapy is given in cycles. Cochise Oncology may use it to shrink tumors, kill remaining cells after other treatments, or to help the immune system fight cancer.