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Low-dose chemotherapy is being studied/used in the treatment of cancer to avoid the side effects of conventional chemotherapy. Historically, oncologists have used the highest possible dose that the body can tolerate in order to kill as many cancer cells as possible. [1] After high-dose treatments, the body reacts, sometimes quite severely.
In conventional chemotherapy, a dose close to the maximum tolerated dose is administered in a bolus manner to achieve cytotoxic effects on tumor cells. [5] However, the side effects are often significant as the cytotoxic agents also kill the fast-dividing cells normally present in the body, such as bone marrow cells and epithelial cells of the gastrointestinal tract. [6]
A chemotherapy regimen is a regimen for chemotherapy, defining the drugs to be used, their dosage, the frequency and duration of treatments, and other considerations. In modern oncology, many regimens combine several chemotherapy drugs in combination chemotherapy. The majority of drugs used in cancer chemotherapy are cytostatic, many via ...
Each drug is listed once (at present), though it might fall in more than one subsection. A full alphabetical listing is included after the categorical listing. The agents in this list are often combined into chemotherapy agent for polychemotherapy (combination chemotherapy).
Some chemotherapy drugs are used in diseases other than cancer, such as in autoimmune disorders, [166] and noncancerous plasma cell dyscrasia. In some cases they are often used at lower doses, which means that the side effects are minimized, [166] while in other cases doses similar to ones used to treat cancer are used.
Like many chemotherapy drugs, dacarbazine may have numerous serious side effects, because it interferes with normal cell growth as well as cancer cell growth. Among the most serious possible side effects are birth defects to children conceived or carried during treatment; sterility, possibly permanent; or immune suppression (reduced ability to ...
Other more serious side effects include black or tarry stools , bloody stools, and bloody urine. Treatment is discontinued in up to 30% of patients due these effects but therapeutic drug monitoring of the biologically active metabolites, i.e. thiopurine nucleotides can help to optimize the efficacy and safety.
[12] [25] As with all chemotherapy, adverse effects are common, and many side effects have been documented. [17] [19] Because docetaxel is a cell-cycle-specific agent, it is cytotoxic to all dividing cells in the body. [26] This includes tumour cells as well as hair follicles, bone marrow and other germ cells.