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.

Chemotherapy Principles

What is 'Chemo Brain'?

How Chemotherapy Affects Daily Living

History of Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy Types

Does Scalp Cooling Prevent Hair Loss During Chemotherapy?

Chemotherapy Treatment Schemes

Latest Chemotherapy News and Research

Gentler treatment improves survival in children with relapsed leukemia

A gentler treatment for children whose leukemia has come back could boost survival and quality of life, a study led by a UCL academic has found.

30 Apr 2026

Daily self-moxibustion during chemotherapy found to be feasible and acceptable

Chemotherapy-induced pancytopenia remains a serious challenge in cancer care because falling blood counts can lead to treatment delays and dose reductions, with associated impact on survival, as well as potential infections, fatigue, and lower quality of life.

30 Apr 2026

New CAR T cell design boosts persistence and reduces toxicity

CAR T-cell therapy has transformed the treatment of hematologic malignancies, yet many patients do not achieve lasting benefit – often because the infused cells fail to expand or persist.

30 Apr 2026

Study shows eIF4G2 gene maintains adult intestinal stem cell identity

Years before he conducted the research that would earn him a Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine, Shinya Yamanaka, MD, PhD, was a postdoctoral scientist at Gladstone Institutes, studying genes.

30 Apr 2026

Liquid biopsy predicts immune response in high-risk breast cancer patients

Immunotherapy has become a standard of care in treating high-risk, early-stage breast cancers, yet it has had limited success in shrinking tumors.

30 Apr 2026

Researchers use light-activated nanozymes to treat aggressive brain tumors

Brain tumors cannot always be successfully treated with conventional therapies. A team from Empa and the hospital network HOCH Health Ostschweiz is therefore developing nanozymes that can attack cancer cells directly in the brain during tumor surgery.

29 Apr 2026

Lifestyle and non-lifestyle factors converge to influence gut microbiome in cancer patients

A new review was published in Volume 13 of Oncoscience on March 11, 2026, titled "Associations among physical activity, diet, non-lifestyle characteristics and the gut microbiome of cancer patients: A scoping review and network analysis."

28 Apr 2026

VCU study identifies key factors driving risk of second cancers

Risk of developing a subsequent primary cancer varied significantly by age at initial diagnosis, sex, and type of first cancer, according to a study by Oxana Palesh and Susan Hong and colleagues at Virginia Commonwealth University, U.S., published April 28th in the open-access journal PLOS Medicine.

28 Apr 2026

New imaging method maps DNA replication forks with single-cell resolution

Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have developed a new imaging method, known as RF-SIRF, that quantitatively detects and maps reversed DNA replication forks with single-cell resolution

28 Apr 2026

New intervention improves coping and well-being in young cancer patients

A cancer diagnosis can upend any life. For young adults already navigating a step into independence, it can be especially distressing.

28 Apr 2026

Repurposed drugs may provide safer treatments for aggressive childhood leukemia

Three clinically available drugs could pave the way for safer and more effective treatments for one of the most aggressive forms of childhood leukaemia, a new study suggests.

27 Apr 2026

Exploiting a new weakness in 'zombie-like' cells to treat senescence-associated diseases

A new set of drugs exploit a recently-revealed weakness in 'zombie-like' – or senescent – cells that could lead to new treatments for cancer and age-associated diseases.

24 Apr 2026

Study reframes Hodgkin lymphoma as a cancer of failed cell development

For the first time, Weill Cornell Medicine researchers have demonstrated that Hodgkin lymphoma cancer cells from patient samples are immune cells stuck in an "identity crisis."

24 Apr 2026

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy shows dual effects in glioblastoma treatment

Glioblastoma remains a highly challenging malignancy with a pronounced tendency for recurrence. The hypoxic microenvironment is a key contributor to its therapy resistance.

23 Apr 2026

Can exercise or ibuprofen fight chemo brain?

This study suggests exercise can mitigate cancer-related cognitive impairment, but combining it with ibuprofen offers no additional cognitive benefits.

23 Apr 2026

Experimental drug kills aggressive breast cancer by toxic fat buildup

An experimental drug targeting triple-negative breast cancer overwhelms cancer cells with toxic fats, according to new tests on human-derived tumors in mice.

22 Apr 2026

Immunotherapy drug helps bladder cancer patients avoid major organ removal

A drug that helps the immune system find cancer cells also helps patients avoid having their bladders surgically removed (cystectomy), a new study shows.

22 Apr 2026

Tumor immune cell patterns predict melanoma immunotherapy response

A new UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center study suggests that the way immune cells are organized inside melanoma tumors may help researchers better understand which patients will benefit from combination immunotherapy after standard anti-PD-1 treatment stops working - and which may not.

22 Apr 2026

New molecule weakens glioblastoma and enhances immune response

A team of researchers from Brown University Health and Brown University has uncovered an important clue in the fight against glioblastoma, the most common and aggressive form of brain cancer in adults.

21 Apr 2026

CAR-PRISM trial reports promising results in high-risk smoldering multiple myeloma

Results of the single-center, phase 2 CAR-PRISM (PRecision Intervention Smoldering Myeloma) clinical trial, the first to investigate Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy in patients with high-risk smoldering multiple myeloma, showed that all 20 patients were negative for minimal residual disease (MRD) within two months of treatment and remained MRD-negative after a median of 15.3 months of follow-up, and none experienced high-grade side effects, according to results presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2026, held April 17-22, in San Diego, Calif.

21 Apr 2026