What To Expect During Chemotherapy

Types Of Chemotherapy

There are six main types of chemotherapy drugs, which are characterized by the different ways in which they work. Alkylating agents are chemotherapy drugs that work to damage the DNA of cells in all stages of the cell cycle to stop them from reproducing. Antimetabolites affect cells in the stage of the cell cycle where chromosomes are being copied by causing interference with the building blocks of DNA and RNA. Anti-tumor antibiotics are drugs that alter the DNA inside of cancerous cells to stop them from reproducing, or they disrupt enzymes that help with DNA copying during the cell cycle. Topoisomerase inhibitors are drugs that stop the activity of topoisomerases responsible for helping with the separation of DNA strands during the cell cycle. Mitotic inhibitors are chemotherapy drugs that work to stop the cell division process by stopping enzymes from producing proteins required for successful cell reproduction. Corticosteroids are considered a chemotherapy drug when they are used in the treatment of cancer. Each chemotherapy drug has a different set of possible side effects and differs in effectiveness for different types of cancer.

Continue to reveal how patients can prepare for chemotherapy next.