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 Types

How Chemotherapy Affects Daily Living

Chemotherapy Principles

History of Chemotherapy

Does Scalp Cooling Prevent Hair Loss During Chemotherapy?

Chemotherapy Treatment Schemes

Latest Chemotherapy News and Research

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

Blocking p300 restores chemotherapy sensitivity in resistant tumors

Overcoming tumor resistance to chemotherapy drugs has long been a challenge for oncology clinicians and researchers.

6 Feb 2026

New report highlights a rare case of 5-fluorouracil-induced hyperammonemic encephalopathy

A new case report was published in Volume 12 of Oncoscience on December 23, 2025, titled "Silent toxicity: A rare case of 5-fluorouracil-induced hyperammonemic encephalopathy."

5 Feb 2026

Small molecule targets glioblastoma oncogene in preclinical studies

UVA Comprehensive Cancer Center scientists have identified a molecule that blocks the gene responsible for glioblastoma, raising hopes that the molecule could become a much-needed new treatment for the deadliest brain cancer.

4 Feb 2026

Eosinophils suppress tumor growth and recurrence in chordoma

Chordoma is a rare tumor characterized by poor prognosis, limited therapeutic options, and a high rate of recurrence. Despite advances in oncology, effective treatments for chordoma remain limited.

31 Jan 2026

Genetic ancestry influences tumor biology and survival in head and neck cancers

Genetic ancestry plays a key role in determining the behavior of head and neck tumors and may help explain why African-American patients survive for half as long as their counterparts of European ancestry, according to a new review study led by researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine's (UMSOM) Institute for Genome Sciences (IGS) and the University of Maryland Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center (UMGCCC).

31 Jan 2026

Researchers identify key factor to help improve treatment for glioblastoma

A groundbreaking study from Brown University Health researchers has identified a crucial factor that may help improve treatment for glioblastoma, one of the most aggressive and common forms of adult brain cancer.

30 Jan 2026

Palbociclib improves progression-free survival in HER2 positive breast cancer

PrECOG, LLC, today announced the publication of final results from the pivotal phase 3 PATINA study in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

30 Jan 2026

Characteristic features of bone marrow metastasis from non-hematolymphoid malignancies

Bone marrow metastasis (BMM) from non-hematolymphoid malignancies with resultant cytopenia(s) can mimic primary hematolymphoid disorders. This study aimed to investigate the clinical and pathological characteristics of BMM from non-hematopoietic tumors.

30 Jan 2026

ERC Proof of Concept grant supports promising CRISPR-based cancer treatment research

Microbiologist John van der Oost of Wageningen University & Research (WUR) has received an ERC Proof of Concept grant to further develop a promising CRISPR-based approach to cancer treatment. With funding of €150,000, he and researcher Christian Südfeld will spend the next eighteen months working on a method to kill cancer cells from within, while sparing healthy cells as much as possible.

30 Jan 2026