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

Chemotherapy Treatment Schemes

Does Scalp Cooling Prevent Hair Loss During Chemotherapy?

Chemotherapy Types

What is 'Chemo Brain'?

How Chemotherapy Affects Daily Living

History of Chemotherapy

Latest Chemotherapy News and Research

Pembrolizumab combination therapy improves survival in recurrent endometrial cancer patients

Previously, immature overall survival results of the NRG Oncology GY018 (NRG-GY018) trial suggested that the use of the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab in combination with chemotherapy improved overall survival for patients with advanced stage or recurrent endometrial cancer when compared to chemotherapy alone.

29 May 2026

Gene test helps many breast cancer patients avoid chemotherapy

Many people with breast cancer can safely avoid chemotherapy with the use of a gene test, potentially sparing them unnecessary side effects without increasing the risk of the cancer returning, a large international clinical trial led by UCL has found.

29 May 2026

Teclistamab delivers deeper responses in relapsed myeloma patients

Patients with relapsed multiple myeloma treated with the immunotherapy teclistamab lived significantly longer and remained in remission far longer than those receiving standard therapies, according to results from a major international phase 3 clinical trial published in The New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.

29 May 2026

Healthy lifestyles reduce chronic health risks for childhood cancer survivors

Healthy lifestyles can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and other complications in childhood cancer survivors. These are the findings of two new international studies.

29 May 2026

Targeted therapy sunvozertinib outperforms standard chemotherapy in advanced lung cancer trial

The targeted therapy sunvozertinib was more effective than standard platinum-based chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) driven by EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations (EGFR exon20ins), according to new research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

29 May 2026

Virtual AI mouse tests nanomedicine without using living animals

When a tumor manages to nestle itself in the brain of a living being, it has - from the tumor's perspective - done something particularly clever.

28 May 2026

Common anemia drugs may help slow cancer growth and progression

Common medications used to treat anemia may also slow down cancer cell growth, according to new research from Finland.

28 May 2026

NCCN launches a free service for updates on clinical cancer guidelines

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN)-the nonprofit alliance of leading cancer centers responsible for essential NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) that providers rely on worldwide-has launched a new, free service.

27 May 2026

Lung cancer cells change identity to resist medical treatments

Cancer scientists have discovered that lung cancer cells can change their identity to resist treatment.

27 May 2026

Combat Medical highlights patient impact of HIVEC HEAT trial at the American Urological Association Annual Meeting

Combat Medical (Combat), a medical device company optimizing the delivery and efficacy of cancer therapeutics, today announced an update on its HIVEC® HEAT FDA registration trial at The American Urological Association (AUA) Annual Meeting.

From Combat Medical 27 May 2026

New study tests vitamin D analog against pancreatic cancer

A small clinical trial led by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers put a Salk Institute idea to the test in patients: that activating the vitamin D receptor can help reshape the protective environment surrounding pancreatic tumors in ways that could make the notoriously difficult-to-treat cancer more vulnerable to therapeutic treatments.

26 May 2026

Special yoga intervention helps cancer survivors manage psychological side effects

University of Rochester Medicine is in the spotlight at a national meeting for a new discovery in integrative oncology: A special yoga intervention, the study shows, goes a step further than other side-effect therapies to improve four domains of physical and psychological side effects that most patients experience, including lifting mood and easing anxiety.

26 May 2026

New AI model predicts cancer treatment responses from mutations

Researchers at University of California San Diego have developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) model that can translate a tumor's complex genetic profile into predictions about how that cancer may respond to treatment.

26 May 2026

Roswell Park scientists present five key cancer studies at clinical meeting

The research findings of experts from Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center will be featured during the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting May 29 to June 2 at McCormick Place in Chicago.

25 May 2026

New peptide triggers domino effect to suppress bladder cancer

Recently, a research team led by Professors Dahong Zhang and Qi Zhang from the Urology Department and the Institute of Urology at Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital and the Translational Medicine Center discovered that a bladder tumor-targeting polyarginine peptide, R11, can directly bind to actin, destabilize the G-actin tetramer, and trigger the cascade breakdown of the actin-plectin-vimentin/ITGβ4 axis (referred to as the "cytoskeletal domino effect").

25 May 2026

Ferroptosis exploits unique cancer metabolic vulnerabilities to bypass traditional apoptotic evasion pathways

A new wave of scientific understanding is placing ferroptosis, a distinct form of iron-dependent cell death, at the forefront of efforts to overcome drug resistance in digestive cancers. These cancers, which include gastric, colorectal, liver, pancreatic, and esophageal malignancies, remain among the most challenging to treat due to their ability to evade standard therapies.

25 May 2026

New advances improve prevention and treatment of HPV-related cancers

A new review article is drawing attention to the growing global impact of human papillomavirus (HPV) and the rapid progress in vaccines and therapeutic strategies aimed at reducing the burden of cervical and non-cervical cancers.

24 May 2026

New biomarker predicts therapy response for hard-to-treat childhood cancers

A study by researchers at the University of Birmingham has identified a new biomarker for response to a specific cancer therapy, treating children with Ewing Sarcoma and other tumor types.

22 May 2026

Excess EXO1 protein may drive cancer DNA damage and treatment response

When it comes to cancer, tumor suppressor genes are usually thought of as the "good guys." These genes make proteins that protect and repair DNA in cells.

21 May 2026

Oral drug improves platelet recovery during chemotherapy in gastrointestinal cancer patients

An oral medication already approved for thrombocytopenia in patients with liver disease significantly improved platelet recovery and helped patients with gastrointestinal cancers maintain platelet counts needed to continue chemotherapy as scheduled, according to results from a phase 2 clinical trial led by researchers at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and Mass General Hospital.

21 May 2026