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.

What is 'Chemo Brain'?

Chemotherapy Principles

Chemotherapy Types

How Chemotherapy Affects Daily Living

History of Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy Treatment Schemes

Does Scalp Cooling Prevent Hair Loss During Chemotherapy?

Latest Chemotherapy News and Research

New approach better predicts chemotherapy response in patients with triple-negative breast cancer

Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have developed a new computational approach designed to better account for changes in gene expression within tumors relative to their unique microenvironments.

17 Feb 2026

Preoperative combination treatment shows promise for some patients with pancreatic cancer

A new UCLA investigator-initiated study sponsored by the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has found that adding immunotherapy to standard chemotherapy before surgery is safe and shows promise for some patients with borderline-resectable pancreatic cancer, a disease that has historically been difficult to treat.

17 Feb 2026

NCCN publishes new guidelines for management of pediatric soft tissue sarcomas

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) today published new NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) for Pediatric Soft Tissue Sarcomas.

17 Feb 2026

Study reveals a new facet of how pancreatic cancer cells regulate autophagy

A feature of pancreatic cancer cells' surroundings determines whether they grow fast or become resistant to chemotherapy, a new study shows.

16 Feb 2026

Chronic inflammation shapes cancer progression and immunotherapy response

Chronic inflammation is both a driver and suppressor of cancer depending on context. Key players-NF-κB, IL-6, STAT3, TAMs, MDSCs, and Tregs-orchestrate a tumor-permissive microenvironment.

16 Feb 2026

NHS updates bladder cancer chemotherapy guidelines

Hundreds of people with advanced bladder cancer across the UK can now receive three rather than six chemotherapy cycles following research by Queen Mary University of London which has led to a change to NHS treatment guidelines.

13 Feb 2026

ASH releases new guidelines for treating leukemia in adolescents and young adults

The American Society of Hematology (ASH) released guidelines on frontline management of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in adolescents and young adults (AYAs), as well as the management of relapsed or refractory disease in this population.

12 Feb 2026

Case report examines potential cancer risks after mRNA vaccination

A new case report was published in Volume 17 of Oncotarget on February 6, 2026, titled "Exploring the potential link between mRNA COVID-19 vaccinations and cancer: A case report with a review of haematopoietic malignancies with insights into pathogenic mechanisms."

12 Feb 2026

Rural cancer patients benefit from local surgical care

Adults living in rural communities often travel long distances when seeking treatment for cancer, but distant travel may not always be necessary to receive high-quality surgical care, according to a new analysis published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons (JACS).

11 Feb 2026

Tiny organism offers insight into neurological side effects of chemotherapy

Chemotherapy remains one of the most powerful tools in the fight against cancer, yet it often comes with significant long-term side effects that can dramatically affect patients' quality of life.

11 Feb 2026

Niacin shows promise in improving treatment for glioblastoma patients

Edward (Ed) Waldner had no idea why he didn't feel well but he knew he didn't feel like himself. At 55-years of age he felt exhausted all the time.

10 Feb 2026

Researchers uncover mechanisms of three mismatch repair deficient high-grade glioma subtypes

Researchers have uncovered the mechanisms behind three unique subtypes of mismatch repair deficient high-grade gliomas.

10 Feb 2026

Dual targeting strategy suppresses pancreatic cancer cell growth

A new research paper was published in Volume 13 of Oncoscience on January 28, 2026, titled "Dual targeting of oncogenic microtubules and mitochondria in PDAC."

10 Feb 2026

Childhood cancer survival varies by tumor stage at diagnosis

A major study by UCL and Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori in Milan (INT) researchers has for the first time shown in detail how far children's cancer has spread at diagnosis in a way that can be compared between countries.

9 Feb 2026

Newly identified protein interaction fine-tunes cellular stress responses

Cornell researchers have discovered a new way cells regulate how they respond to stress, identifying an interaction between two proteins that helps keep a critical cellular recycling system in balance.

9 Feb 2026

Nervous system actively promotes pre-cancerous pancreatic lesions

Pancreatic cancer has a lot of nerve. Notoriously tricky to detect, the disease also often resists traditional therapy. So, researchers are urgently looking for new ways to disrupt tumor formation.

9 Feb 2026

Mesothelial cells enable rapid invasion and spread of ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer kills more women than any other gynecological cancer. Most patients receive their diagnosis only after the disease spreads throughout the abdomen.

7 Feb 2026

RNA micelles enable targeted chemotherapy without immune toxicity

A new study in mice hints at the potential to use tiny particles made with RNA molecules to deliver chemotherapy drugs and other therapies directly to tumors, killing cancer cells without generating an immune response or toxicity-related side effects.

7 Feb 2026

Bioadhesive patches target remaining glioblastoma cells after surgery

Glioblastoma is the most prevalent and aggressive brain tumor. It proliferates very rapidly, is highly invasive, and there is currently no treatment capable of halting its progression or curing it, which means life expectancy after diagnosis is very short.

6 Feb 2026