News tagged with chemotherapy
New study finds titan cells protect Cryptococcus
Giant cells called "titan cells" protect the fungus Cryptococcus neoformans during infection, according to two University of Minnesota researchers. Kirsten Nielsen, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the department of microb ...
May 28, 2012 |
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Garlic constituent blocks biofilm formation, could benefit CF patients and others
E Pluribus Unum, the motto of the United States, could just as well apply to biofilm-forming bacteria. Bacterial biofilms are far more resistant than individual bacteria to the armories of antibiotics we have devised to combat ...
May 22, 2012 |
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Stress-induced genomic instability facilitates rapid cellular adaption in yeast
Cells trying to keep pace with constantly changing environmental conditions need to strike a fine balance between maintaining their genomic integrity and allowing enough genetic flexibility to adapt to inhospitable conditions. ...
Jan 29, 2012 |
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Scientists combine tumor-targeting peptides and nanoparticles to destroy glioblastoma
Glioblastoma is one of the most aggressive forms of brain cancer. Rather than presenting as a well-defined tumor, glioblastoma will often infiltrate the surrounding brain tissue, making it extremely difficult to treat surgically ...
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Oct 03, 2011 |
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A molecule worth its weight in gold to fight cancer
EPFL scientists have shown that inorganic, metal-containing molecules can be used to fight cancer. The discovery has opened up a whole new area of research.
Oct 18, 2011 |
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'Nanobubbles' plus chemotherapy equals single-cell cancer targeting
Using light-harvesting nanoparticles to convert laser energy into "plasmonic nanobubbles," researchers at Rice University, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) ...
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Apr 09, 2012 |
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Magnetic nanochain detonates chemo barrage inside tumors
Medicine-toting nanochains slip into tumors and explode a chemotherapy drug into hard-to-reach cores of cancer, engineers and scientists at Case Western Reserve University report.
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Apr 18, 2012 |
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Scientists identify major source of cells' defense against oxidative stress
Both radiation and many forms of chemotherapy try to kill tumors by causing oxidative stress in cancer cells. New research from USC on a protein that protects cancer and other cells from these stresses could one day help ...
Apr 06, 2012 |
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Researchers identify potential molecular target to prevent growth of cancer cells
Researchers have shown for the first time that the protein fortilin promotes growth of cancer cells by binding to and rendering inert protein p53, a known tumor suppressor. This finding by researchers at the University of ...
Sep 16, 2011 |
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Biologically targeted nanoparticles may boost radiation therapy effects
(PhysOrg.com) -- Making a tumor more sensitive to radiotherapy is a primary goal of combining chemo and radiation therapy to treat many types of cancer, but with the chemotherapy drugs come unwanted side effects.
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Oct 27, 2011 |
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'Trojan Horse' particle sneaks chemotherapy in to kill ovarian cancer cells
A common chemotherapy drug has been successfully delivered to cancer cells inside tiny microparticles using a method inspired by our knowledge of how the human immune system works. The drug, delivered in this way, reduced ...
Sep 12, 2011 |
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Droplet array sheds light on drug-resistant cancer stem cells
Researchers at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) have developed a miniaturized biochip for investigating the effect of drugs on cancer stem cells (CSCs). Published recently in Nano Today, this new te ...
May 09, 2012 |
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Aiding cancer therapy by mathematically modeling tumor-immune interactions
Cancer is one of the five leading causes of death. And yet, despite decades of research, there is no standardized first-line treatment for most cancers. In addition, disappointing results from predominant second-line treatments ...
Jan 25, 2012 |
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Personalized chemotherapy, cheaper medicine, affordable health care -- they may be closer than you think
(Medical Xpress) -- New technology being developed at Florida State University could significantly decrease the cost of drug discovery, potentially leading to increased access to high-quality health care and cancer patients ...
Mar 13, 2012 |
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Plasmonic nanocrosses that heat up when illuminated can be used to kill cancer
Plasmonic nanoparticles are extremely sensitive to light, and even the tiniest amount can cause these particles to heat up. Scientists are now trying to use plasmonic nanoparticles in cancer therapy whereby ...
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Dec 23, 2011 |
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Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy, in its most general sense, refers to treatment of disease by chemicals that kill cells, both good and bad, but specifically those of micro-organisms or cancerous tumours. In popular usage, it refers to antineoplastic drugs used to treat cancer or the combination of these drugs into a cytotoxic standardized treatment regimen. In its non-oncological use, the term may also refer to antibiotics (antibacterial chemotherapy). In that sense, the first modern chemotherapeutic agent was Paul Ehrlich's arsphenamine, an arsenic compound discovered in 1909 and used to treat syphilis. This was later followed by sulfonamides discovered by Domagk and penicillin discovered by Alexander Fleming.
Most commonly, chemotherapy acts by killing cells that divide rapidly, one of the main properties of cancer cells. This means that it also harms cells that divide rapidly under normal circumstances: cells in the bone marrow, digestive tract and hair follicles; this results in the most common side effects of chemotherapy—myelosuppression (decreased production of blood cells), mucositis (inflammation of the lining of the digestive tract) and alopecia (hair loss).
Other uses of cytostatic chemotherapy agents (including the ones mentioned below) are the treatment of autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis and the suppression of transplant rejections (see immunosuppression and DMARDs). Newer anticancer drugs act directly against abnormal proteins in cancer cells; this is termed targeted therapy.
For more information about Chemotherapy, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
