Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy, in its most general sense, is the treatment of disease by chemicals especially by killing micro-organisms or cancerous cells. In popular usage, it refers to antineoplastic drugs used to treat cancer or the combination of these drugs into a cytotoxic standardized treatment regimen.

What is Chemotherapy?

Chemotherapy literally refers to the treatment of certain diseases using specific chemicals that are destructive to malignant cells or to the causative agent of a disease such as a bacteria or virus. Therefore, the treatment can be broadly divided into two categories - cancer chemotherapy and antimicrobial chemotherapy.

History of Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy Principles

Chemotherapy Treatment Schemes

Chemotherapy Types

What is 'Chemo Brain'?

Does Scalp Cooling Prevent Hair Loss During Chemotherapy?

How Chemotherapy Affects Daily Living

Latest Chemotherapy News and Research

Promising gene editing therapy shows hope in sickle cell disease cure

Researchers have presented the latest findings from a clinical trial aimed at discovering a cure for sickle cell disease, a painful genetic blood disorder with limited treatment options.

14 Jun 2024

Innovative 3D cell culturing method offers new insights into cancer cell mechanics

Developing chemotherapy drugs against breast cancer is costly, slow, and often inefficient, with more than 95% of screened drug candidates failing in patient trials.

14 Jun 2024

AI-based liquid biopsy technology promises early detection of cancer recurrence

An artificial intelligence-powered method for detecting tumor DNA in blood has shown unprecedented sensitivity in predicting cancer recurrence, in a study led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine, NewYork-Presbyterian, the New York Genome Center (NYGC) and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK).

14 Jun 2024

Case study sheds light on CAR-T therapy-related secondary cancers

A new detailed analysis of a patient's second cancer after receiving CAR-T therapy for the initial cancer provides rare but important insights intended to offer helpful guidance for oncologists and pathologists about the clinical presentation and pathologic features involved in a CAR-T related second cancer.

13 Jun 2024

Mutated TREX1 gene linked to catastrophic DNA damage and deadly rare disease

TREX1 is a gene that is supposed to direct the maintenance of the entire body's DNA, but new research shows that when people are born with mutated TREX1, it causes catastrophic damage to the DNA over time, resulting in a deadly rare disease called retinal vasculopathy with cerebral leukoencephalopathy (RVCL).

13 Jun 2024

Study reveals why EGFR inhibitors fail in some non-smokers with lung cancer

The reason why targeted treatment for non-small cell lung cancer fails to work for some patients, particularly those who have never smoked, has been discovered by researchers from UCL, the Francis Crick Institute and AstraZeneca.

13 Jun 2024

MEK inhibitor trametinib shows potential in pediatric JMML treatment

The MEK inhibitor trametinib (Mekinist) was an effective treatment for pediatric patients with relapsed or refractory juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML) enrolled in a phase II clinical trial, with seven of 10 patients alive after a median of two years.

13 Jun 2024

Study uncovers why targeted therapy fails in some non-small cell lung cancer patients

13 Jun 2024

Open-ILD: Pioneering stem cell research to combat interstitial lung disease

Imagine a world where breathing is a luxury and a cough marks the sound of an inner battle. Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD), a condition characterised by inflammation and fibrosis, is a major cause of severe respiratory illness and can occur in children.

13 Jun 2024

Stanford study finds low risk of secondary blood cancers after CAR-T cell therapy

A large study by researchers at Stanford Medicine has found that the risk of secondary blood cancers after CAR-T cell therapy -; a cell-based cancer treatment that exploded on the scene in 2017 as a treatment for intractable blood cancers -; is low, despite a Food and Drug Administration warning.

12 Jun 2024

Combining anlotinib with STUPP regimen improves survival in glioblastoma patients

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is among the most aggressive forms of brain tumors, with few effective treatment options and a bleak prognosis.

12 Jun 2024

First-in-human trial shows safety and efficacy of CAR T cell therapy for advanced prostate cancer

Treating prostate cancer with immunotherapy is currently difficult to do. But results from a first in-human phase 1 trial using a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy developed by researchers from City of Hope, one of the largest cancer research and treatment organizations in the United States, showed that patients with advanced prostate cancer can be treated safely with the cellular immunotherapy with promising therapeutic activity, according to the phase 1 trial study published today in Nature Medicine.

12 Jun 2024

UD researchers pioneer universal, economical method for proteomics sample preparation

Proteins are workhorses that carry out most of the biological functions in our cells. While the genes we inherit from our parents, our so-called genome, are fixed and usually remain unchanged throughout our lives, proteins in our bodies are constantly changing, as we age, under different health conditions and upon stimulation, such as with medical treatment.

11 Jun 2024

Attenuated virus helps eliminate cancer in mice

Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered that an attenuated (weakened) virus can help eliminate cancer in mice.

11 Jun 2024

Researchers engineer water-soluble histidine kinase for enhanced antibiotic drug screens

A bacterial enzyme called histidine kinase is a promising target for new classes of antibiotics. However, it has been difficult to develop drugs that target this enzyme, because it is a "hydrophobic" protein that loses its structure once removed from its normal location in the cell membrane.

11 Jun 2024

Gene therapy trial: restored hearing in children with hereditary deafness

The safety and effectiveness of binaural adeno-associated virus 1 (AAV1)-human otoferlin (hOTOF) therapy in five children with autosomal recessive deafness 9 (DFNB9).

7 Jun 2024

Innovative nanotechnology offers new hope for fibrosis treatment

Researchers at The University of Texas at El Paso are developing a new therapeutic approach that uses nanoparticles for the treatment of skin and lung fibrosis, conditions that can result in severe damage to the body's tissues.

6 Jun 2024

New molecular portrait of KRAS in pancreatic cancer may guide better treatments

Researchers at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and colleagues have established the most comprehensive molecular portrait of the workings of KRAS, a key cancer-causing gene or "oncogene," and how its activities impact pancreatic cancer outcomes.

6 Jun 2024

New approach reduces the required drug dosage for cancer treatment

Traditional chemotherapy often poses significant challenges, including severe side effects, damage to healthy tissue and limited efficacy.

6 Jun 2024

Precision medicine revolutionizes outcomes for high-risk pediatric cancer patients

In a world-first, Australian researchers and clinicians have shown that precision medicine – where treatment is tailored to an individual child's cancer – leads to significantly improved outcomes in children with high risk cancer.

6 Jun 2024