Understanding Cancer Medicines: Types, Uses, and Benefits
Cancer treatment often involves medication that targets cancer cells, strengthens the body's immune system, or helps manage symptoms. These drugs are designed to help fight cancer, prevent its spread, and alleviate side effects of treatment.
Chemotherapy Drugs
Purpose: Chemotherapy is used to kill or slow the growth of rapidly dividing cancer cells. These drugs can affect the entire body and are often used for many types of cancer, sometimes in combination with other treatments.
Common Drugs:
- Cisplatin: Used for testicular, ovarian, and bladder cancer. It works by damaging the DNA in cancer cells.
- Cyclophosphamide: Treats various cancers including blood cancers and lymphomas.
- Methotrexate: Used for breast cancer, leukemia, and autoimmune diseases. It works by interfering with cell division.
- Doxorubicin: Treats a wide variety of cancers such as breast cancer and sarcomas by stopping cancer cell reproduction.
- Carboplatin: Often used for ovarian cancer and lung cancer, similar to cisplatin but with fewer side effects.
- 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU): Used mainly for colorectal cancer, it disrupts DNA synthesis.
Side Effects: Common effects include nausea, hair loss, weakness, and increased infection risk.
Targeted Therapy Drugs
Purpose: therapies are designed to target specific molecules that help cancer cells grow, divide, and spread. These drugs typically cause fewer side effects than chemotherapy, as they focus on cancerous cells specifically.
Common Drugs:
- Imatinib: Treats chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) by inhibiting the protein that promotes cancer growth.
- Trastuzumab: Used for HER2-positive breast cancer by blocking the HER2 receptor, preventing cancer cell growth.
- Erlotinib: Targets the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in cancers like lung cancer and pancreatic cancer.
- Lapatinib: Used in combination with other treatments for HER2-positive breast cancer.
- Rituximab: Targets CD20 protein on the surface of cancer cells in lymphomas and CLL.
Side Effects: These drugs may cause skin rashes, liver problems, high blood pressure, and gastrointestinal issues.
Immunotherapy Drugs
Purpose: Immunotherapy works by boosting or modifying the immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells more effectively. These treatments have been shown to work for certain types of cancer and are used alone or with other therapies.
Common Drugs:
- Pembrolizumab: Works by blocking the PD-1 protein on immune cells, allowing them to attack cancer cells, primarily for melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer.
- Nivolumab: Similar to pembrolizumab, this drug blocks PD-1 and is used for cancers like melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, and kidney cancer.
- Ipilimumab: Stimulates the immune system to fight melanoma and other cancers by blocking CTLA-4, a protein that suppresses immune activity.
- Atezolizumab: Used for cancers like bladder cancer and non-small cell lung cancer by blocking PD-L1, a protein that prevents immune cells from attacking cancer.
Side Effects: Fatigue, skin rashes, and inflammation of organs like the lungs, liver, or intestines.
Hormone Therapy
Purpose: Hormone therapy is used for cancers that grow in response to hormones, like breast and prostate cancer. These drugs block the hormones or interfere with their activity to slow cancer growth.
Common Drugs:
- Tamoxifen: Blocks estrogen receptors in hormone receptor-positive breast cancer to slow or stop tumor growth.
- Leuprolide: Lowers testosterone levels, used in prostate cancer.
- Anastrozole: Reduces estrogen production in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer.
- Exemestane: Similar to anastrozole, it lowers estrogen levels in postmenopausal women.
- Bicalutamide: Used for prostate cancer by blocking the action of testosterone.
Side Effects: Hot flashes, mood swings, joint pain, and an increased risk of blood clots or osteoporosis.
Bone Marrow-Stimulating Drugs
Purpose: These drugs stimulate the bone marrow to produce more blood cells, especially white blood cells, to help patients undergoing chemotherapy or radiation therapy recover more quickly and fight infections.
Common Drugs:
- Filgrastim: Stimulates the production of neutrophils (a type of white blood cell).
- Pegfilgrastim: A longer-lasting version of filgrastim.
- Sargramostim: Another drug to stimulate white blood cell production, used in certain leukemia treatments.
Side Effects: Bone pain, headache, and fatigue.
Side Effects and Management
Common Side Effects:
- Fatigue: Most cancer treatments cause fatigue, but regular rest, a balanced diet, and hydration can help.
- Nausea and Vomiting: Anti-nausea medications, like ondansetron or metoclopramide, are commonly prescribed to manage these symptoms.
- Hair Loss: Chemotherapy drugs are the most common cause, but hair generally grows back after treatment ends.
- Increased Risk of Infections: Due to a decrease in white blood cells, patients are at higher risk for infections. Precautionary measures like hand hygiene and avoiding crowds can help.
- Pain and Inflammation: Some treatments can cause pain, which can be managed with over-the-counter pain relievers or prescribed medications.
Frequently Asked Questions
Chemotherapy uses powerful drugs to kill or damage cancer cells by interfering with their ability to divide and grow. It works systemically, affecting both cancer and healthy cells.
Immunotherapy boosts the immune system's ability to identify and attack cancer cells. It helps the immune system overcome cancer's ability to hide from it.
These drugs specifically target cancer cells by focusing on molecules involved in their growth, making them more precise and often causing fewer side effects than traditional chemotherapy.
Hormone therapies are used for cancers like breast and prostate cancer, where hormones (such as estrogen and testosterone) stimulate cancer growth.
Yes, some medications can cause long-term side effects, such as nerve damage, heart issues, or fertility problems, depending on the type of drug and the individual's response.