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 Types

Chemotherapy Principles

How Chemotherapy Affects Daily Living

Chemotherapy Treatment Schemes

History of Chemotherapy

Does Scalp Cooling Prevent Hair Loss During Chemotherapy?

What is 'Chemo Brain'?

Latest Chemotherapy News and Research

NUS scientists harness magnetic pulses to reprogram immune cells to fight breast cancer

Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have demonstrated an innovative approach for targeted breast cancer therapy using pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMFs).

18 Sep 2026

Simple fecal test could help detect colorectal and pancreatic cancers

Gastrointestinal and pancreatobiliary cancers can be difficult to detect early, creating a need for practical, noninvasive approaches for early detection and risk assessment.

16 Sep 2026

Biological mechanisms validate structured exercise as therapeutic in oncology care

Structured exercise may help people with cancer live longer and have more time free of disease, finds a synthesis of the available evidence, published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

16 Sep 2026

Genomic profiling uncovers distinct TP53 and PI3K pathways across tumor budding grades

A newly proposed International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) tumor budding-based grading system successfully identified patients with resected lung squamous cell carcinoma (SqCC) at higher risk of poor outcomes and showed potential to help guide selection for adjuvant chemotherapy, according to research presented at the IASLC 2026 World Conference on Lung Cancer on Lung Cancer. (WCLC).

15 Sep 2026

Research identifies novel prognostic biomarkers for class II and III BRAF-altered cancers

Patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring class II and class III BRAF alterations have distinct clinicopathologic and genomic characteristics, with class III alterations potentially associated with worse prognosis, according to research presented today at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2026 World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC).

15 Sep 2026

Final results from PAPILLON trial confirm long-term survival in a subset of lung cancer

Final results from the landmark PAPILLON trial, which changed the standard of care for a difficult-to-treat rare form of lung cancer, confirm that amivantamab, when added to chemotherapy, provides durable clinical benefit and the longest median overall survival reported to date for people with the disease.

15 Sep 2026

Zipalertinib plus chemotherapy improves survival in advanced NSCLC harboring EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations

Adding zipalertinib to platinum-pemetrexed chemotherapy significantly improved progression-free survival in patients receiving first-line treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations, according to results presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2026 World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC).

15 Sep 2026

Adjuvant osimertinib delivers long-term survival benefit in EGFR-mutated NSCLC

An exploratory eight-year landmark update from the Phase III ADAURA trial showed that adjuvant osimertinib continued to provide a long-term overall survival benefit for patients with completely resected, EGFR-mutated stage IB-IIIA non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

15 Sep 2026

T-DXd significantly extends progression-free survival in HER2-mutant NSCLC

First-line treatment with trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd) significantly improved progression-free survival compared with pembrolizumab plus platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with advanced or metastatic HER2-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to primary results from the Phase 3 DESTINY-Lung04 trial presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2026 World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC).

15 Sep 2026

Zidesamtinib shows strong activity in TKI-naive ROS1-positive non-small cell lung cancer

New results from the global Phase I/II ARROS-1 trial showed clinically meaningful activity with zidesamtinib in patients with advanced or metastatic ROS1-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who had not previously received a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI).

15 Sep 2026

Tam-Peli significantly extends survival in relapsed small-cell lung cancer

The phase III TAISHAN-302 trial found that tambotatug pelitecan (Tam-Peli, YL201), a novel anti-B7-H3 antibody-drug conjugate, significantly improved overall survival, progression-free survival and objective response rate compared with topotecan in patients with relapsed small-cell lung cancer (SCLC).

14 Sep 2026

Ivonescimab shows significant survival benefit for patients with PD-L1-positive NSCLC

Ivonescimab significantly prolonged overall survival compared with pembrolizumab as first-line treatment for patients with PD-L1-positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a prespecified interim analysis of the phase 3 HARMONi-2 trial presented today at the IASLC 2026 World Conference on Lung Cancer.

14 Sep 2026

Ris-Rez improves survival in patients with relapsed small-cell lung cancer

Results from the randomized Phase III ARTEMIS-008 trial show that risvutatug rezetecan (Ris-Rez), a B7-H3-directed antibody-drug conjugate, significantly improved overall survival compared with topotecan in patients with relapsed small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) whose disease progressed on or after platinum-based chemotherapy.

14 Sep 2026

Phase 2 study highlights flexible dosing options for tarlatamab in relapsed SCLC

Extended-interval dosing regimens of tarlatamab demonstrated efficacy, safety and pharmacokinetic profiles generally consistent with the established every-two-week regimen in patients with previously treated for small cell lung cancer (SCLC), according to results from the randomized Phase 2 DeLLphi-309 study presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2026 World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC).

12 Sep 2026

MD Anderson trial challenges local consolidative therapy paradigm in NSCLC

Adding local consolidative therapy (LCT) after induction treatment with nivolumab plus ipilimumab did not improve overall survival or progression-free survival in patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), including those with oligometastatic disease, according to results presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2026 World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC).

12 Sep 2026

Neoadjuvant atezolizumab addition quadruples pathological responses in resectable lung tumors

Patients with resectable stage II–IIIB non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with perioperative atezolizumab plus platinum-based chemotherapy experienced a median event-free survival of 62.8 months compared with 34.9 months for patients receiving chemotherapy alone, according to final results from the Phase 3 IMpower030 trial.

12 Sep 2026

Low discontinuation rates confirm manageable safety of iza-bren

An investigational EGFR x HER3 antibody-drug conjugate demonstrated promising efficacy with a tolerable safety profile in patients with previously treated EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), supporting selection of the 2.5 mg/kg dose for evaluation in the global Phase 3 IZABRIGHT-Lung01 registrational study.

12 Sep 2026

FDA clears trial of dual-targeted CAR T-cell therapy for cancer

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration this week granted permission for investigators at the University of Colorado Anschutz to conduct a clinical trial testing genetically engineered immune cells in adults with advanced colorectal cancer and pediatric patients with solid cancers who have exhausted standard treatment options.

11 Sep 2026

Cancer treatments alter the landscape of genetic mutations in healthy body tissues

Cancer treatments, including chemotherapy and radiotherapy, give a growth advantage to cells with particular genetic changes in healthy tissue, new research finds.

11 Sep 2026

Childhood chemotherapy leaves lasting DNA damage in healthy cells

Chemotherapy, which saves the lives of many children with cancer, causes previously unknown DNA alterations in the liver and leaves genetic footprints in other healthy cells as well.

10 Sep 2026

Chemotherapy

Overview

Chemotherapy Types

Chemotherapy Principles

How Chemotherapy Affects Daily Living

Feature Articles

Chemotherapy Treatment Schemes

History of Chemotherapy

Does Scalp Cooling Prevent Hair Loss During Chemotherapy?

What is 'Chemo Brain'?

Latest Chemotherapy News and Research

NUS scientists harness magnetic pulses to reprogram immune cells to fight breast cancer

Simple fecal test could help detect colorectal and pancreatic cancers

Biological mechanisms validate structured exercise as therapeutic in oncology care

Genomic profiling uncovers distinct TP53 and PI3K pathways across tumor budding grades

Research identifies novel prognostic biomarkers for class II and III BRAF-altered cancers

Final results from PAPILLON trial confirm long-term survival in a subset of lung cancer

Zipalertinib plus chemotherapy improves survival in advanced NSCLC harboring EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations

Adjuvant osimertinib delivers long-term survival benefit in EGFR-mutated NSCLC

T-DXd significantly extends progression-free survival in HER2-mutant NSCLC

Zidesamtinib shows strong activity in TKI-naive ROS1-positive non-small cell lung cancer

Tam-Peli significantly extends survival in relapsed small-cell lung cancer

Ivonescimab shows significant survival benefit for patients with PD-L1-positive NSCLC

Ris-Rez improves survival in patients with relapsed small-cell lung cancer

Phase 2 study highlights flexible dosing options for tarlatamab in relapsed SCLC

MD Anderson trial challenges local consolidative therapy paradigm in NSCLC

Neoadjuvant atezolizumab addition quadruples pathological responses in resectable lung tumors

Low discontinuation rates confirm manageable safety of iza-bren

FDA clears trial of dual-targeted CAR T-cell therapy for cancer

Cancer treatments alter the landscape of genetic mutations in healthy body tissues

Childhood chemotherapy leaves lasting DNA damage in healthy cells

Cancer Research - Second Edition eBook

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

Advancing Intracellular Delivery with LumiPore®

Chemotherapy

Overview

Feature Articles

Chemotherapy Treatment Schemes

History of Chemotherapy

Does Scalp Cooling Prevent Hair Loss During Chemotherapy?

What is 'Chemo Brain'?

Latest Chemotherapy News and Research

Cancer Research - Second Edition eBook

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

Advancing Intracellular Delivery with LumiPore®

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