Category:Antineoplastic

Definition

Antineoplastic agents, also referred to as chemotherapy drugs or cytotoxic drugs, are the most common type of systemic drug therapy to treat cancer. These agents interfere with cancer cells’ ability to grow and spread in a variety of ways. are medicines that are used to treat some forms of cancer. Most drugs on the market are designed to kill only a specific type of bacteria or virus, but antineoplastic drugs have to target a wide range of cells over sometimes multiple body systems. As a result, anti-cancer drugs often harm healthy cells in an attempt to kill the cancer cells.

Antineoplastic drugs are different from the over-the-counter drugs you might take for a cold or allergies. Those drugs target a specific problem in a specific location, like a runny nose or sore throat, while antineoplastic drugs target all unhealthy cells in a person's body.

The problem with this is that it is very hard to design a drug to kill only cancer cells that won't accidentally harm other cells at the same time. They work in a way that is similar to the weed killers that you use to kill unwanted plants that might be growing in your grass.

The weed killer will definitely kill the weeds, but there is also a very good chance it will also kill any grass that it gets sprayed on that might be in the vicinity of the weed.

Antineoplastic drugs are very good at killing their targeted cells, but a lot of other healthy cells tend to end up as collateral damage. This lack of specificity is what causes antineoplastic drugs to have so many potential side effects.

Potential Side Effects

Most people are aware that when people are being treated for cancer, their treatment often has side effects like hair loss or weight loss. A side effect is anything experienced by the human body that is caused by a drug other than what the drug was designed to do.

So if you get an upset stomach from taking a medication for your headache, that upset stomach would be a side effect. It is a problem that is created when you take a medication to treat a different problem.

Hair loss is one of the most common side effects of antineoplastic drugs.

With antineoplastic drugs, side effects are caused by a combination of healthy cells accidentally being killed, lower than usual blood cell counts, and the typical drug-related side effects you might experience when you start taking a new medication.