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

Targeted therapy for non-small cell lung cancer provides benefit to patients after surgery

A clinical trial led by Yale Cancer Center shows that the drug osimertinib, a targeted therapy for non-small cell lung cancer, improved rates of survival and reduced risk of recurrence in patients after surgery.

7 Jun 2023

Promising targeted therapy offers new hope to certain patients with advanced pancreatic cancer

A promising new targeted cancer therapy will soon be available to certain patients with advanced pancreatic cancer – from the comfort of their home.

7 Jun 2023

Single dose of anti-Müllerian hormone gene therapy can induce long-term contraception in domestic cats

Currently there are no contraceptives capable of producing permanent sterilization in companion animals. Spaying, the surgical removal of the ovaries and uterus, is the most widely used strategy to control unwanted reproduction in female cats.

6 Jun 2023

New type of wound dressing could enhance the healing process for burn patients

One of the challenges in treating burn victims is the frequency of dressing changes, which can be extremely painful.

6 Jun 2023

HER2-targeted antibody drug conjugate shows encouraging responses, long-lasting clinical benefit in several tumor types

In a new study of trastuzumab deruxtecan, a HER2-targeted antibody drug conjugate, researchers observed encouraging responses and long-lasting clinical benefit in several tumor types.

5 Jun 2023

Phase III ZUMA-7 trial: Patients with high-risk large B-cell lymphoma lived longer with axi-cel

Patients with early relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma had significantly improved overall survival when treated with the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel) when compared to the current standard-of-care chemoimmunotherapy, according to results of the Phase III ZUMA-7 trial reported by researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

5 Jun 2023

Clinical trials demonstrate positive results from targeted therapy for patients with multiple tumor types with FGFR alterations

Three clinical trials led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center demonstrated positive results from the targeted therapy erdafitinib for patients with multiple tumor types harboring FGFR alterations.

5 Jun 2023

Fred Hutch experts highlight research on cancer treatment advances, survivorship and precision oncology at ASCO

At the 2023 American Society for Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting—to be held June 2-6 in Chicago, Illinois—Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center experts will present research spanning survivorship, advances in treatments and clinical trials, how access to cancer care affects outcomes, integrative medicine and more.

5 Jun 2023

Study suggests possible new treatment option for people with slow-growing but deadly brain tumor

In an international study co-led by UCLA, scientists have shown that a new targeted therapy drug can extend the amount of time people with a subtype of glioma are on treatment without their cancer worsening.

4 Jun 2023

SWOG Cancer Research Network clinical trial reveals potential new therapy for Stage 3 or 4 classic Hodgkin lymphoma

A Phase 3 trial has demonstrated that patients with advanced stage (3 or 4) classic Hodgkin lymphoma who underwent initial treatment with nivolumab, a PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor, and AVD chemotherapy (N-AVD) had a significantly lower risk of their cancer getting worse than patients treated with brentuximab vedotin, a monoclonal antibody, and AVD (BV-AVD) a year after starting treatment.

4 Jun 2023

Stopping treatment at two years does not seem to compromise overall survival in patients with advanced lung cancer

Over the past decade, the approval of immune checkpoint inhibitors has revolutionized treatment for patients with advanced lung cancer, helping many live longer lives and improving overall survival for the disease.

4 Jun 2023

Study shows efficacy and safety of novel FolRα-targeting antibody drug conjugate in recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer

Updated dose expansion data of the phase I STRO-002-GM1 study have been presented today by Ana Oaknin, Principal Investigator of the Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology's (VHIO) Gynecological Malignancies Group, on the ground at the 2023 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), 2-6 June in Chicago, USA.

4 Jun 2023

NCI launches new initiative to test new drug combinations that target specific tumor alterations

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has launched a large precision medicine cancer initiative to test the effectiveness of treating adults and children with new drug combinations that target specific tumor alterations.

1 Jun 2023

New data guides treatment choices for patients with r/r lymphoma during pregnancy

Today, Blood Advances published a study revealing that patients with relapsed/refractory (r/r) lymphoma during pregnancy experienced a progression-free survival rate of 24% and an overall survival rate of 83%.

1 Jun 2023

Study sheds light on metabolic enzymes and processes essential for DNA damage repair

In crisis, the nucleus calls antioxidant enzymes to the rescue. The nucleus being metabolically active is a profound paradigm shift with implications for cancer research.

1 Jun 2023

Breast cancer patients experience more severe CIPN symptoms with paclitaxel

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) – nerve pain, tingling, or numbness in the hands or feet – is a common side effect of certain cancer treatments, including two drugs frequently used to treat cancer – the taxanes paclitaxel and docetaxel.

31 May 2023

Novel treatment targets against natural killer/T-cell lymphoma identified

A team of researchers from the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore (CSI Singapore) at the National University of Singapore has discovered that a transcription factor, TOX2, was aberrantly increased in patients with Natural killer/T-cell lymphoma (NKTL).

29 May 2023

New understanding of chemotherapeutic resistance in recurring ovarian cancer

A new editorial paper was published in Oncoscience (Volume 10) on May 11, 2023, entitled, "UPR-induced ovarian cancer cell fusion: a mechanism favoring drug resistance?"

26 May 2023

Phase 3 studies for rectal, brain, and kidney cancers to be presented by Dana-Farber researchers at ASCO 2023

Several phase 3 studies conducted by researchers from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute show promising results for patients with rectal, brain, and kidney cancers. The results of these studies, along with dozens of others led by Dana-Farber researchers, will be presented at the 2023 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago.

26 May 2023

Telephone-based weight loss program can help patients with breast cancer to reduce their weight

Women with obesity when they are diagnosed with early breast cancer have a higher risk of recurrence or a second cancer compared to women whose weight is in the normal range and it can be hard to lose weight after being diagnosed with breast cancer.

26 May 2023

Chemotherapy

Overview

History of Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy Principles

Chemotherapy Treatment Schemes