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 Principles

Chemotherapy Treatment Schemes

Chemotherapy Types

What is 'Chemo Brain'?

Does Scalp Cooling Prevent Hair Loss During Chemotherapy?

How Chemotherapy Affects Daily Living

Latest Chemotherapy News and Research

‘They won’t help me’: Sickest patients face insurance denials despite policy fixes

Sheldon Ekirch spends a lot of time on hold with her health insurance company. Sometimes, as the minutes tick by and her frustration mounts, Ekirch, 30, opens a meditation app on her phone. It was recommended by her psychologist to help with the depression associated with a stressful and painful medical disorder.

31 Mar 2025

Study uncovers how resistance to chemotherapies may occur in some cancers

Investigators at Mass General Brigham have uncovered how resistance to chemotherapies may occur in some cancers. Researchers focused on a pathway that harnesses reactive oxygen species (ROS) to kill cancer cells.

28 Mar 2025

Studies explore bioactive compounds in plants for disease prevention

Fruits and plant extracts contain bioactive compounds that can help treat or prevent diseases. To characterize and understand their mechanism of action, researchers from universities and research institutions in Brazil and Germany have conducted independent but complementary studies.

28 Mar 2025

Six promising biomarkers could improve early and accurate detection of kidney injury

Critical Path Institute® (C-Path) and Boston Medical Center (BMC) published results for six biomarkers that could improve the early and accurate detection of kidney injury, leading to both the development of safer medications and better health outcomes for all patients.

28 Mar 2025

Lipid accumulation in tumors linked to therapy resistance in breast cancer

A new study published in the journal Immunity reveals a mechanism that allows triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) to develop resistance to therapy.

28 Mar 2025

AI-powered model improves prediction of bladder cancer treatment outcomes

Leveraging the power of AI and machine learning technologies, researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine developed a more effective model for predicting how patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer will respond to chemotherapy.

28 Mar 2025

Study reveals progressive breast shrinkage after breast-conserving therapy

For women with early-stage breast cancer, breast-conserving therapy (BCT) including radiation therapy (RT) leads to progressive reduction in breast size over time, reports a study in the April issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

27 Mar 2025

Cell's stress response is more nuanced and compartmentalized than previously thought

The body's cells respond to stress-toxins, mutations, starvation or other assaults-by pausing normal functions to focus on conserving energy, repairing damaged components and boosting defenses.

26 Mar 2025

Study identifies PDGFRA as a potential target for pediatric high-grade gliomas

Pediatric high-grade gliomas, particularly H3K27M diffuse midline gliomas (DMG), are aggressive malignant brain tumors with a poor prognosis.

26 Mar 2025

Cabozantinib gains FDA approval for treating advanced neuroendocrine tumors

Cabozantinib, an oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor, has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of patients with previously treated advanced neuroendocrine tumors (NETs).

26 Mar 2025

Researchers unlock key process for regenerating intestinal cells after injury

Researchers from the University of Colorado Cancer Center have solved a cellular mystery that may lead to better therapies for colorectal and other types of cancer.

25 Mar 2025

Yale study unlocks potential of lupus-related antibody to target cold tumors

Yale scientists have discovered a promising way to trigger immune responses against certain tumors, using a lupus-related antibody that can slip, undetected, into "cold" tumors and flip on an immune response that has been turned off by cancer.

25 Mar 2025

New trial aims to make rectal cancer more responsive to radiation

City of Hope, one of the largest and most advanced cancer research and treatment organizations in the U.S. with its National Medical Center named top 5 in the nation for cancer by U.S. News & World Report, has opened a phase 1 trial seeking to one day transform rectal cancer from a mostly radiation-resistant disease to one that can be cured using radiation and chemotherapy.

25 Mar 2025