Chemotherapy – Types, Side Effects and Resistance

Abstract

Chemotherapy is one of the most common cancer treatment therapies used to treat various types of cancer through regular interval exposure to drugs. There are different types of chemotherapeutic drugs such as alkylating agents, antimetabolites, anti-tumor antibiotics, topoisomerase inhibitors II, and mitotic inhibitors that can be used to inhibit cancer cells from growing further and spread to other parts of the body. Cancer cells tend to grow and proliferate very fast in supportive environment whereas chemotherapy drugs exhibit certain level of ability to eliminate these fast-growing cells. However, these drugs may be disseminated throughout the body and cause damage to healthy cells. Indeed, chemotherapy may induce adverse effects in multiple organ systems and the issues with toxicity commonly restrict the usefulness of chemotherapeutic drugs. Despite its widespread use and acceptance, it has been associated with a number of side effects including nausea, discomfort, diarrhea and hair loss. Unpleasant side effects of current treatment drugs following chemotherapy has led to more research directed on identifying potential uses of natural products such as from plants (plant-derived based alternative therapies) for use in cancer treatment. Drug resistance is another challenge in chemotherapy. This mini review provides some information on types of chemotherapy, their side effects and resistance following treatment regimes.

Keywords: chemotherapy, cancer, drug resistance, side effects