Mechanism of Chemotherapeutic agents for oncology
Definition
Chemotherapeutic agents, also referred to as antineoplastic agents, are used to directly or indirectly inhibit the proliferation of rapidly growing cells, typically in the context of malignancy.
Effects
Chemotherapy is associated with a range of adverse effects :
Nausea
Vomiting
Increased risk of infection
Impaired growth of healthy cells
Types
Anti-microtubule agents
Topoisomerase inhibitors
Antimetabolites
Cytotoxic antibiotics
Alkylating agents
Efficiency
The overall effectiveness ranges from being curative for some cancers, such as some leukemias,to being ineffective, such as in some brain tumors,to being needless in others, like most non-melanoma skin cancers.
Hair loss
Anemia
Infertility
Organ Damage
Mechanism of Action
Cancer is the uncontrolled growth of cells coupled with malignant behaviour: invasion and metastasis.
It is caused by the interaction between genetic susceptibility and environmental factors.These factors lead to accumulations of genetic mutations in oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes, which gives cancer cells their malignant characteristics, such as uncontrolled growth.
chemotherapeutic drug
most chemotherapeutic drugs work by impairing mitosis (cell division), effectively targeting fast-dividing cells. As these drugs cause damage to cells, they are termed cytotoxic. They prevent mitosis by various mechanisms including damaging DNA and inhibition of the cellular machinery involved in cell division.
History
The era of cancer chemotherapy began in the 1940s with the first use of nitrogen mustards and folic acid antagonist drugs.
Apoptosis
One theory as to why these drugs kill cancer cells is that they induce a programmed form of cell death known as apoptosis.
Cells from the immune system also make crucial contributions to the antitumor effects of chemotherapy.