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.

Does Scalp Cooling Prevent Hair Loss During Chemotherapy?

How Chemotherapy Affects Daily Living

What is 'Chemo Brain'?

Chemotherapy Types

Chemotherapy Treatment Schemes

History of Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy Principles

Latest Chemotherapy News and Research

New dual-drug strategy blocks triple-negative breast cancer growth

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has a frustrating ability to adapt. Although this aggressive form of breast cancer can initially respond well to chemotherapy, cancer cells often find ways to survive, allowing the disease to return and become resistant to treatment.

31 Aug 2026

Breast cancer survivors could avoid lifelong heart medication, research suggests

Many breast cancer survivors whose treatment caused them to develop problems with their heart function can safely stop their medication after their heart recovers and most won't need to continue treatment long-term, according to a study funded by the British Heart Foundation and presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Munich.

30 Aug 2026

FDA approves daraxonrasib for metastatic pancreatic cancer following landmark clinical trial led by Dana-Farber

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved daraxonrasib, an oral multi-selective RAS(ON) inhibitor, for adults with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma who have received at least one prior systemic therapy or are not candidates for multiagent systemic therapy.

From Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Inc. 29 Aug 2026

Study shows how cancer can act as a systemic disease

In their quest to understand how cancers take root, grow and spread, scientists have for the past half-century explored the genetic aberrations and microenvironmental peculiarities of tumors and their constituent cells.

28 Aug 2026

The US switch in shingles vaccines revealed an unexpected heart health pattern

In a natural experiment involving 72,920 propensity-matched US adults aged 60 years and older, recombinant shingles vaccination was associated with a 9% lower cardiovascular disease burden over seven years compared with the live attenuated vaccine. Lower burdens of ischemic heart disease and heart failure were seen in both sexes, while ischemic stroke was significantly lower only among men, supporting further clinical trials and mechanistic studies

27 Aug 2026

CAR T-cell therapy successfully reverses severe rheumatoid arthritis

Immunotherapies such as CAR T-cell therapy are used primarily to treat cancer. In the future, these patient-specific therapies, manufactured from patients' own immune cells, could also help cure autoimmune diseases.

27 Aug 2026

Study challenges traditional breast cancer classification methods

Breast cancer is often classified as either estrogen receptor-positive (hormone-sensitive) or not. However, a new study from Karolinska Institutet suggests that this simplified classification may overlook important biological differences between patients that could affect treatment decisions.

27 Aug 2026

FDA approves first RAS-targeted therapy for metastatic pancreatic cancer

27 Aug 2026

New review examines oral cancer drug delivery barriers and strategies

Delivering drugs directly to oral tumor sites remains challenging. A recent review involving researchers from Hasanuddin University examines barriers to local drug delivery and analyses strategies for targeting oral cancer lesions.

26 Aug 2026

Real-world Chinese study confirms benefits of niraparib maintenance therapy for ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer remains one of the most lethal gynecologic malignancies worldwide, with a high risk of recurrence even after successful initial treatment.

26 Aug 2026

Standard memory tests fail to detect post-chemotherapy brain fog

Standard memory tests such as word-pair or list-learning tests used in clinics may fail to detect the real-life memory problems reported by many female breast cancer survivors after chemotherapy.

25 Aug 2026

New discovery helps identify colorectal cancer patients at risk for metastasis

Researchers from the University of Turku in Finland and Gustave Roussy Institute in France have discovered a molecular mechanism that regulates whether the cells of an aggressive colorectal cancer are conventional or inverted when they spread in the body.

25 Aug 2026

AI identifies key gene driving aging in blood stem cells

Stem cells possess the unique ability to self-renew and transform into different types of cells. For example, rare hematopoietic stem cells found in bone marrow can become any type of blood cell.

24 Aug 2026

Multifunctional nanoplatform addresses three key barriers to effective TNBC immunotherapy

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is one of the most aggressive and treatment-resistant subtypes of breast cancer, accounting for 15-20% of all cases.

21 Aug 2026

Scientists uncover safer way to tame cancer cell senescence

Stopping tumor growth is only half the battle. Rather than kill tumor cells, many cancer therapies can only push them into cellular senescence, a state in which cells stop dividing but do not die. These "undead" cells will continue to release signals that reshape the tumor environment.

20 Aug 2026