A breakthrough in chemotherapy drugs
Written by Dr. Bill Ackart on April 26th, 2009Just that you know this article will provide you with all the information needed to cover our topic. I am sure you will enjoy it at maximum!
The pharmaceutical industry has come up with lots of chemotherapy drugs classified according to the chemical structure, the working principle and the possible associations with other medication. The origin of most drugs is in herbal extracts that are afterwards processed and combined in laboratories. Don’t be surprised to find a drug classified in more categories, because there are many such cases in the medical world. Medical science and professional competence in the health care realm involves a good knowledge of chemotherapy drugs and their specificity.
A first category of chemotherapy drugs is the one relying on alkylating agents. These drugs have a very destructive effect on the bone marrow because they damage the DNA to stop the reproduction of the cancerous cells. Lots of cancer cases get treated with this kind of chemotherapy drugs, with the mention that doses are always kept low because of the risk to develop leukemia up to ten years after the cessation of the treatment. The platinum based drugs are sometimes included in the same category because they act in a very similar manner against the disease.
Antimetabolites are another distinct class of chemotherapy drugs. They are prescribed for the treatment of ovary and intestinal cancers, breast tumors and leukemia and their impact is not limited to the DNA but also extends to the RNA too.
The anthracyclines are another type of chemotherapy drugs being part of the antibiotic group. They work against enzymes that help in DNA replication and they are encountered in a wide variety of cancer treatments.
The category of inhibitors comes next. The topoisomerase inhibitors separate and copy the DNA strands efficiently treating leukemia. With a more natural preponderance because of their herbal origin, mitotic inhibitors prevent the production of proteins necessary for the cancer cells growth. Even so, there is one huge risk that patients take when following such a treatment: these chemotherapy drugs could cause peripheral nerve damage to count only one of the health threats you may fear.
Last but not least, the corticosteroids are chemotherapy drugs based on hormones meant to treat lymphoma, leukemia and myeloma together with other diseases. Besides reducing the speed of cell growth, they also have a good impact on the way the body reacts to chemotherapy by preventing nausea, vomiting or other types of allergic reactions. These types of drugs may be used as chemotherapy ones or not, depending on the purpose they are supposed to serve.
In reading through this article, I hope you have gained a better knowledge about this subject.
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Tags: cancer, cancer drugs, cancer treatment, chemotherapy, disease, drug, drugs, general, General Health, health, illness, medication
