# Chemotherapy

Source: https://onco.cc/terms/chemotherapy-term/  
OnCo record `chemotherapy-term` (Term). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Drugs that kill rapidly dividing cells by damaging their DNA or the machinery of division. Because cancer cells divide fast they are hit hardest, but so are hair, gut lining and bone marrow, which is where the side effects come from.

## Summary

The main families are DNA-damaging agents (platinums such as cisplatin and carboplatin, alkylators such as cyclophosphamide), antimetabolites that poison DNA building blocks (5-fluorouracil, gemcitabine, methotrexate), topoisomerase inhibitors (irinotecan, etoposide, doxorubicin) and microtubule poisons that jam cell division (paclitaxel, docetaxel, vincristine). Given in cycles to let normal tissue recover, chemotherapy cures some cancers outright (testicular cancer, many lymphomas and childhood leukaemias), prevents recurrence after surgery, and controls advanced disease; it remains the backbone that newer drugs are added to. Its potency is also being repurposed: ADC payloads are chemotherapy agents far too toxic to give alone, delivered by antibody straight to the tumour.

## Fields

- Kind: Term
- Last checked: 2026-09-09
- Also known as: chemotherapies; chemo; cytotoxic; cytotoxics; cytotoxic chemotherapy; cytotoxic drugs; cytotoxic drug; cytotoxic agent; cytotoxic agents; chemotherapy regimen; chemotherapy regimens; chemo regimen; platinum-based chemotherapy; platinum doublet; taxane; taxanes; anthracycline; anthracyclines

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemotherapy
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemotherapy

## Connected records

- terms: [Bone marrow](https://onco.cc/terms/bone-marrow/), [Cell cycle](https://onco.cc/terms/cell-cycle/), [Cell division](https://onco.cc/terms/cell-division/), [Dose](https://onco.cc/terms/dose/), [Drug efflux pumps (ABC transporters)](https://onco.cc/terms/efflux-pump/), [Immunotherapy](https://onco.cc/terms/immunotherapy-term/), [Payload (ADC)](https://onco.cc/terms/payload/), [Prodrug](https://onco.cc/terms/prodrug/), [Systemic versus local therapy](https://onco.cc/terms/systemic-vs-local-therapy/), [Targeted therapy](https://onco.cc/terms/targeted-therapy-term/), [Toxicity grade](https://onco.cc/terms/toxicity-grade/)
- fronts: [Chemotherapy](https://onco.cc/fronts/chemotherapy/)
- technologies: [Antibody-drug conjugate (ADC)](https://onco.cc/technologies/adc/), [Cytotoxic chemotherapy](https://onco.cc/technologies/cytotoxic-chemotherapy/), [Platinum agents](https://onco.cc/technologies/platinum/), [Topoisomerase-I inhibitors (and ADC payloads)](https://onco.cc/technologies/topoisomerase-inhibitors/)
- drugs: [Carboplatin](https://onco.cc/drugs/carboplatin/), [Paclitaxel / nab-paclitaxel](https://onco.cc/drugs/paclitaxel/)
- people: [Luis Eduardo Martín Rodríguez](https://onco.cc/people/luis-eduardo-martin-rodriguez/)
- journals: [Cancer investigation](https://onco.cc/journals/cancer-investigation/), [Cancer research and treatment](https://onco.cc/journals/cancer-research-and-treatment/), [The Lancet Global Health](https://onco.cc/journals/lancet-global-health/)

---
JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/chemotherapy-term.json