Types of Chemotherapy: Understanding Different Treatment Approaches

Major types of chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is often categorized based on how the drug works inside the body.  Here are the main types of chemotherapy used in cancer care. 

Alkylating agents

Alkylating agents damage the DNA of the cancer cells, which makes it impossible for them to replicate. 

Uses: These are commonly used for treating solid tumors like breast, lung, and ovarian cancers.  Additionally, blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma.

Examples: Cyclophosphamide, ifosfamide, and cisplatin. 

Benefits: These types of drugs are versatile in nature and can be used in many cancer types. 

Antimetabolites

Antimetabolites try to mimic the building blocks of DNA and RNA. When cancer cells try to use these as look-alikes, their growth is often disrupted. 

Uses: These drugs are often used in breast cancer, colorectal cancer, and leukemias. 

Examples: Methotrexate, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), and cytarabine. 

These treatment approaches target cells at specific stages of growth, making them powerful in fast-dividing cancers.

Anti-tumor antibiotics

These medications interfere with the DNA replication process by binding to DNA strands or inhibiting enzymes that help cancer cells grow. 

Uses: These drugs are used in the treatments of breast cancer, lung cancer, and soft tissue sarcomas. 

Examples: Doxorubicin, bleomycin, mitomycin-C

Note: Some of these drugs might affect the heart, so monitoring is important. 

Topoisomerase inhibitors

These drugs block Topoisomerases, which are enzymes that cancer cells need to unwind DNA during replication. 

Uses: Commonly used in the treatment of lung cancer, leukemia, and ovarian cancer.

Examples: Topotecan, irinotecan, etoposide

Mitotic Inhibitors

These drugs help to prevent cancer cells from dividing by disrupting the microtubules that pull DNA apart during the cell division. 

Uses: These are often used to treat lung cancer, leukemias, and lymphomas

Examples: Paclitaxel, docetaxel, vincristine

Key benefits: These are specifically used to target mitosis, which is a cell division phase, making them highly effective. 

Corticosteroids in chemotherapy

These are not traditional chemotherapy drugs, corticosteroids are often used along with other cancer treatments to reduce inflammation, manage side effects, and sometimes directly fight against certain types of cancers.

Uses: These drugs are often used in the treatment of lymphoma, leukemia, and lymphomas.

Examples: Prednisone, dexamethasone

Benefits: These can help to decrease the side effects like nausea, allergic reactions and swelling.

How chemotherapy is delivered

Chemotherapy can be administered in patients in several ways mainly depending on the treatment plan and health condition of a patients, including:

• Intravenous (IV) : This is the most common used type
• Oral pills
• Injections
• Topical creams (for certain skin cancers)

Intrathecal or intraperitoneal chemotherapy (often delivered directly into the spinal fluid or abdomen). Each treatment approach is chosen based on the type of cancer, location, and overall health of a patient.

Key benefits

Here are some of the key benefits of performing chemotherapy in cancer patients, including:

• Targets fast growing cancer cells effectively
• Helps to treat cancer throughout the  body
• Shrinks tumors before the surgical procedure or radiation
• Reduce the risk of cancer recurrence
• Helps to relieve symptoms
• Works well with other cancer treatments
• Offers many drugs options