Chemotherapy
Sunday, October 21st, 2007Chemotherapy is the treatment of serious diseases such as cancer with strong cytotoxic drugs. Cyto- means “cell” in Latin; thus cytotoxic means that the drug destroys rapidly growing cancer cells. The principle of cytotoxic chemotherapy for cancer is based on the fact that cancer cells grow rapidly. Cytotoxic chemotherapy differentially affects cells that are rapidly growing, preferentially killing them. This is also the reason for the occurrence of the frequent side effects of cytotoxic chemotherapy—diarrhea, mucosal ulcers, hair loss, and so forth—that the organs and tissues involved are composed of rapidly growing cells.
