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 Types

Does Scalp Cooling Prevent Hair Loss During Chemotherapy?

Chemotherapy Treatment Schemes

How Chemotherapy Affects Daily Living

Chemotherapy Principles

What is 'Chemo Brain'?

Latest Chemotherapy News and Research

Esophageal cancer leaves a distinct metabolic signature in the gut

The study uncovers gut microbial and metabolic signatures in esophageal cancer, emphasizing lipid dysregulation and its potential role in disease progression.

1 Oct 2026

Study identifies three cell clusters driving pancreatic cancer-induced cachexia

Research published today in Cell identifies three small subclusters of cells driving pancreatic cancer-induced cachexia, a muscle-wasting and fat-loss condition that makes patients less tolerant of cancer treatment.

29 Sep 2026

Neck lymph node removal surgery may disrupt brain waste clearance

Surgery to remove lymph nodes in the neck may interfere with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) drainage from the brain, contributing to cognitive impairment, according to new multicenter research led by Weill Cornell Medicine scientists.

29 Sep 2026

Five-session SBRT preserves quality of life before pancreatic cancer surgery

Patients preparing for pancreatic cancer surgery maintained better physical function and experienced less fatigue with five treatments of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) than with 28 treatments of conventional radiation therapy given with chemotherapy, according to a randomized phase 2 clinical trial.

28 Sep 2026

Childhood cancer survivors face severe mental health challenges as adults

Consultant and researcher Magnus Aasved Hjort believes that people who survive childhood cancer should receive far better support as adults.

28 Sep 2026

Why one gut microbe is attracting attention in heart failure research

Researchers found that chronic systolic heart failure caused by nonischemic cardiomyopathy was associated with reduced gut microbial diversity, depletion of Bifidobacterium, and lower microbial short-chain fatty acid production potential. Higher Bifidobacterium abundance and higher circulating indole-3-propionic acid levels were associated with milder disease and clinical improvement, although the findings do not establish causality.

27 Sep 2026

UCLA researchers present new radiation advances at ASTRO 2026

Physicians and scientists from the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center will share new research and clinical trial findings at the 2026 American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Annual Meeting, including studies on new treatment approaches for prostate, bile duct and head and neck cancers, personalized radiation therapy based on genetic risk, and advances in targeted radiation and radioligand therapy designed to improve cancer control while limiting treatment side effects.

25 Sep 2026

National study benchmarks pancreatic cancer surgery outcomes across China

Pancreatic cancer is among the most aggressive malignancies, and in China it accounts for a substantial and rising share of cancer deaths.

25 Sep 2026

USP15 enzyme emerges as potential target for ovarian cancer treatment

Ovarian cancer is often diagnosed after it has already spread to other parts of the body, at which point the five-year survival rate is under 30 percent.

24 Sep 2026

Multi-million dollar grants aim to advance hairy cell leukemia research

The Hairy Cell Leukemia Foundation and Blood Cancer United®, formerly The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, today announced six new research grants as part of their ongoing strategic partnership to better understand what drives hairy cell leukemia and find better therapies on the road to cures for this rare form of blood cancer.

24 Sep 2026

New trial aims to evaluate chemotherapy benefit for ER+/HER2- breast cancer patients

The addition of CDK4/6 inhibitors to endocrine therapy has changed the standard of care for patients with high-risk early-stage estrogen receptor-positive, HER2-negative (ER+/HER2-) breast cancer by reducing the risk of recurrence.

24 Sep 2026

Engineered nanoparticles sensitize gliomas to radiotherapy

Gliomas are a major cause of cancer-related deaths in younger adults.

24 Sep 2026

C-Path awards $1.7 million to advance five drug development projects

Critical Path Institute (C-Path) today announced that its Translational Therapeutics Accelerator has awarded $1,699,500 through five Bridging Research and Innovation in Drug Development Grants (BRIDGe).

22 Sep 2026

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