What are the categories of chemotherapy drugs?

Chemotherapy is a commonly used treatment method in life, mainly used to treat cancer. The function of chemotherapy is to control the growth of cancer cells and gradually eliminate them. Chemotherapy is widely used in modern cancer treatments, and there are many chemotherapy drugs. They should be selected according to the specific symptoms. The medical community has divided chemotherapy drugs into several categories. Let’s take a look at the classifications of chemotherapy drugs.

Chemotherapy drugs are medicines used to treat tumors. Chemotherapy drugs kill tumor cells. These drugs can act on different links of tumor cell growth and reproduction, inhibiting or killing tumor cells. Chemotherapy is one of the main methods of treating tumors.

1. Alkylating agents: Alkylating agents act directly on DNA to prevent cancer cells from regenerating. This class of drugs is effective against chronic leukemia, malignant lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease, multiple myeloma, lung cancer, breast cancer, and ovarian cancer.

2. Antimetabolites: Antimetabolites interfere with the synthesis of DNA and RNA and are used to treat chronic leukemia, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, gastric cancer and colorectal cancer.

3. Antitumor antibiotics: Antitumor antibiotics interfere with DNA by inhibiting the action of enzymes and mitosis or changing the cell membrane. Antitumor antibiotics are cell cycle non-specific drugs and are widely used in the treatment of cancer.

4. Plant-based anticancer drugs: Plant-based anticancer drugs are plant alkaloids and natural products that can inhibit mitosis or enzyme action, thereby preventing the synthesis of proteins necessary for cell regeneration. Plant-based anticancer drugs are often used in combination with other anticancer drugs to treat a variety of cancers.

5. Hormones: Corticosteroids are used to treat cancers such as lymphoma, leukemia, and multiple myeloma. When hormones are used to kill cancer cells or slow their growth, they can be thought of as chemotherapy drugs. Sex hormones are used to slow the growth of breast, prostate, and endometrial cancers. It includes estrogens, anti-estrogens, progesterone and androgens. The mode of action of sex hormones is different from that of cytotoxic drugs and belongs to a special category of chemotherapy.

6. Immune agents: Immune agents can stimulate the immune system of cancer patients to more effectively identify and attack cancer cells. They belong to a special category of chemotherapy.