What Are Chemotherapy Drugs
By: MarkLuisTotal Views: 219, Word Count: 497,
Chemotherapy is treatment for treating cancer with drugs or chemicals. There are various chemotherapy drugs that are available in market. These chemotherapy drugs are classified into different group depending on their chemical structure, their working and their relationship with other drug. Some drugs are grouped into one group because they are derived from same plant. Some drugs belong to more than one group. This grouping can help to determine which chemotherapy drugs can work better when applied together.
Alkylating agents
Alkylating agents directly damage DNA which prevents reproduction of cancerous cells. This group drugs with alkylating agent are used for treating different types of cancer including breast cancer, ovary cancer, lung cancer, Hodgkin disease, multiple myeloma, sarcoma, lymphoma, acute and chronic leukemia.
There are different alkylating agents including nitrogen mustards, alkyl sulfonates, triazines, nitrosoureas and ethylenimines. Chemotherapy such as cisplatin, carboplatin, and oxalaplatin are grouped with alkylating agents group because they eradicate the cancerous cell in a similar way.
Antimetabolites
This group of chemotherapy drugs interferes with DNA and RNA growth by substituting for the normal building blocks of DNA and RNA. This antimetabolites group of chemotherapy drug is used in the treatment of leukemia, tumors of breast, ovary, and the intestine tract and also other cancers.
This group of chemotherapy dugs includes 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), capecitabine, 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP), cytarabine, methotrexate, gemcitabine, fludarabine, and pemetrexed.
Anti-tumor antibiotics
Anthracyclines are anti-tumor antibiotics. This chemotherapy drugs interfere with enzymes which are involved in DNA replication. These are used widely to treat various types of cancers. However, there are chances of permanent heart damage if this antibiotic is given in large doses. Chemotherapy drugs that are fallen in this category are daunorubicin, epirubicin, doxorubicin and idarubicin.
Other anti-tumor antibiotics include actinomycin-D, bleomycin, and mitomycin-C. Mitoxantrone is another anti-tumor antibiotic which is similar to doxcorubicin.
Topoisomerase inhibitors
Topoisomerase inhibitors are the chemotherapy drugs which interfere with enzymes called topoisomerases. These drugs help to separate the strands of DNA so that they can be copied. These drugs are helpful in the treatment of certain leukemias, and also lung, ovarian, gastrointestinal and other cancers. Examples of topoisomerase inhibitors include topotecan, irinotecan, etoposide and teniposide.
Mitotic Inhibitors
Mitotic inhibitors contain alkaloids and other compounds which are derived from natural products. This group of chemotherapy drug prevents mitosis or inhibits enzymes from making proteins which is needed for production of cancerous cell. Different types of cancer such as breast, lung, myelomas, lymphomas, and leukemias can be treated using mitotic inhibitors.
Mitotic inhibitors group include drugs such as paclitaxel, docetaxel, ixabepilone, vinblastine, vincristine and vinorelbine.
Corticosteroids
Corticosteroids are natural hormones and hormone-like drugs. These drugs are useful for treating some types of cancer such as lymphoma, leukemias, and multiple myeloma and also other illnesses. Examples of corticosteroids include prednisone, methyl prednisolone and dexamethasone.
There is some other chemotherapy drugs are used to treat cancer but do not fit in any category as they act in different way. These miscellaneous chemotherapy drugs include L-asparaginase, and bortezomib.
About the Author
Mark Luis is a medical writer specializing in cancer and chemotherapy. He runs few cancer and chemotherapy relates sites like and cancer symptoms.
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