Orchid Cancer Centre - Chemotherapy

The term chemotherapy, or chemo., refers to a wide range of drugs used to treat cancer. These drugs usually work by killing dividing cells. Since cancer cells have lost many of the regulatory functions present in normal cells, they will continue to attempt to divide when other cells do not. This trait makes cancer cells susceptible to a wide range of cellular poisons. Normal cells are more resistant to the drugs because they often stop dividing when conditions are not favorable. Not all normal dividing cells escape however, a fact that contributes to the toxicity of these drugs. Cell types that are normally rapidly dividing, such as those in the bone marrow and in the lining of the intestine, tend to be hardest hit. Death of the normal cells produces some of the common side-effects of chemotherapy.