Chemotherapy Agents

Chemotherapy is the general term for any treatment involving the use of chemical agents to stop cancer cells from growing. Chemotherapy can eliminate cancer cells at sites great distances from the original cancer. As a result, chemotherapy is considered a systemic treatment.

A chemotherapy regimen (a treatment plan and schedule) usually includes drugs to fight cancer plus drugs to help support completion of the cancer treatment at the full dose on schedule.

Chemotherapy is designed to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy can be administered through a vein, injected into a body cavity, or delivered orally in the form of a pill, depending on which drug is used.

Chemotherapy works by destroying cancer cells; unfortunately, it cannot tell the difference between a cancer cell and some healthy cells. So chemotherapy eliminates not only the fast-growing cancer cells but also other fast-growing cells in your body, including, hair and blood cells.

Some cancer cells grow slowly while others grow rapidly. As a result, different types of chemotherapy drugs target the growth patterns of specific types of cancer cells. Each drug has a different way of working and is effective at a specific time in the life cycle of the cell it targets. Your doctor will determine the chemotherapy drug that is right for you.

(courtesy of chemotherapy.com)

Additional Information

Chemotherapy May Not Affect Survival or Quality of Life for Patients with Advanced Mesothelioma

Researchers from the UK and Australia involved in a multicenter randomized trial have concluded that chemotherapy for advanced pleural mesothelioma may not improve survival or quality of life. More...

ALIMTA®, pemetrexed is an antifolate antineoplastic agent that works by blocking specific enzymes thought to play a role in the rapid growth of lung tumors. Alimta can be given with cisplatin, another anti-cancer medicine.

ALIMTA in combination with cisplatin, camptosar or other agents is indicated for the treatment of patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma whose disease is unresectable or who are otherwise not candidates for curative surgery. More...

ONCONASE is an agent that is meant to target cancerous cells while sparing healthy cells from side effects. ONCONASE is taken into cancerous cells, where it kills the cell through various processes. More...