According to the American Cancer Society, cancer begins with one cell that starts growing out of control. This abnormal cell continues to grow at a fast rate, dividing and infecting the body. The essential problem is that cancer cells grow faster than normal cells, they divide more often and they live longer. They also invade other tissues, converting healthy cells and growing the cancer even more. One way to treat cancer is through the use of chemotherapy drugs. Chemotherapy drugs are a combination of powerful chemicals that kill fast growing cells. There are a variety of different chemotherapy drugs, sometimes used along to treat the cancer and, at other times, they are used in combination.
Alkylating Agents
Alkylating Agents do their job by damaging the DNA in the cell so that the cell can no longer grow and divide. Because alkylating agents target DNA in the body they can sometimes cause new forms of cancer, those involving bone marrow, like leukemia. Interestingly enough, leukemia is one of the cancers that alkylating agents are designed to fight.
Antimetabolites
Antimetabolites also fight cancer by damaging the DNA and RNA of cells. But unlike alkylating agents, antimetabolites damage the cells by substituting themselves for the common building blocks present in DNA and RNA.
Anthracyclines
Anthracyclines are a form of anti-tumor medication used to fight a variety of cancers. They work by blocking the enzymes needed for cellular growth. Anthracyclines can be used for every stage of cancer but taking too much can cause cardiovascular complications so dosage is kept low.
Topoisomerase Inhibitors
Topoisomerases are enzymes that are involved in the duplication of cells, both cancerous and noncancerous. Topoisomerase inhibitors work by blocking the enzyme's ability to duplicate; thereby limiting the growth of cancerous cells.
Mitotic Inhibitors
Mitotic inhibitors are actually made from natural plant extracts. They stop specific enzymes from making proteins that are required to fuel cellular growth.
Corticosteroids
Corticosteroids are drugs commonly used to treat cancer and other illnesses. Corticosteroids are used to kill and slow the growth of cancer cells. They are also used to treat symptoms of chemotherapy like nausea, vomiting and allergic reaction to other drugs.
