Cancer side effects

Mitomycin C is an alkylating agent that forms cross-links with DNA to inhibit DNA and RNA synthesis. The pharmacokinetics of mitomycin C are best described by a two-compartment model, with an a half-life of 8 minutes and a terminal half-life of 48 minutes.31 Liver metabolism is the primary route of elimination. Mitomycin C has shown clinical activity in the treatment of anal, bladder, cervix, gallbladder, esophageal, and stomach cancer. Side effects consist of myelosuppression and mucositis, and it is a vesicant. 

Letrozole is another selective aromatase that inhibits the conversion of androgens to estrogen. Maximum plasma concentrations occur 1 hour after oral dosing concomitant food has not been shown to have an effect on the extent of absorption of letrazole. The terminal half-life is approximately 2 days. Letrozole is used in the treatment of postmenopausal women with hormone-receptor-positive or unknown advanced breast cancer. Side effects include bone pain, hot flushes, back pain, nausea, arthralgia, osteoporosis/bone fractures, and dyspnea. 

Liver is in general the organ where any extraneous substance is dealt with. A dramatic case is that of a young man of 26 years who had taken anabolic steroids for years to build his muscle, but who died of liver cancer. Side effects on female athletes are of course masculinizing effects, including beards, deepening of voice, and menstrual irregularity. 

Monoclonal antibody therapy rituximab, alemtuzumab Non-specific immunotherapies and adjuvants BCG, interleukin-2 (IL-2), and interferon-a Immunomodulating drugs thalidomide and lenalidomide Cancer vaccines vaccine for advanced prostate cancer Side effects Flu-like symptoms, including fever, chills, nausea, and loss of appetite, allergic reactions, fatigue decrease in blood pressure Work better for some types of cancer than for others... 

Modem cancer therapy has been primarily dependent upon surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and hormonal therapy (72) (see Chemotherapeutics,anticancer Hormones Radiopharmaceuticals). Chemotherapeutic agents maybe able to retard the rate of growth, but are unable to eradicate the entire population of neoplastic cells without significant destmction of normal host tissue. This serious side effect limits general use. More recentiy, the immunotherapeutic approach to cancer has involved modification and exploitation of the cellular and molecular mechanisms in host defense, regulation of tissue proliferation, tissue differentiation, and tissue survival. The results have been more than encouraging. 

USP (Megace) testolactone USP [968-93 ] C19H24O3 300.40 (61) or endrome-trium breast cancer hyper-calcemia common side effects of steroids fluid retention ... 

There were some early clinical studies of carzinophilin, both alone [131,132] and in combination with mitomycin C, in humans [133]. Despite showing promising reduction in the number of cancer cells, there were significant toxic side effects and clinical application has not been pursued any further. 

Clinical trials showed therapeutic efficacy in a broad spectrum of tumors these include SCLC, testicular tumors, sarcomas, breast cancer, renal cell cancer, pancreatic tumors and lymphomas. Ifosfamide is less myelosuppressive than cyclophosphamide but is more toxic to the bladder. Therefore it is recommended that ifosfamide is coadministered with the thiol compound mesna to avoid hemorrhagic cystitis and to reduce the risk of developing bladder cancer. Other side effects include neurotoxicity and myelosuppression. 

Capecitabine is used for the treatment of colorectal and breast cancers. It is contraindicated in patients with known hypersensitivity to capecitabine or any of its components or to 5-fluorouracil and in patients with known dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) deficiency. The use of capecitabine is restricted in patients with severe renal impairment. The drag can induce diarrhea, sometimes severe. Other side effects include anemia, hand-foot syndrome, hyperbilirubinemia, nausea, stomatitis, pyrexia, edema, constipation, dyspnea, neutropenia, back pain, and headache. Cardiotoxicity has been observed with capecitabine. A clinically important drag interaction between capecitabine and warfarin has been demonstrated. Care should be exercised when the drag is co-administered with CYP2X9 substrates. 

Recombinant humanized monoclonal antibodies have been used recently to target antigens that are preferentially located on cancer cells. Examples include trastuzumab and rituximab which are used to treat HER2 positive breast cancer and B-cell type lymphomas, respectively. Unwanted side effects include anaphylactic reactions. 

Antineoplastic agents that cannot be grouped under subheadings 1-9 include miltefosine which is an alkylphosphocholine that is used to treat skin metastasis of breast cancer, and crispantase which breaks down asparagine to aspartic acid and ammonia. It is active against tumor cells that lack the enzyme asparaginase, such as acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells. Side effects include irritation of the skin in the case of miltefosine and anaphylactic reactions in the case of crispantase. Another recent development is the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib which is used to treat multiple myeloma. 

Cytokines and biological response modifiers represent a broad class of therapeutic agents that modify the hosts response to cancer or cancer therapies. The enormous body information about their clinical uses and their side effects is beyond the scope of this essay that can only give illustrative examples. For an up-to-date information the reader can resort to reference [5]. As many as 33 different interleukins are known and the list continues to grow IL-2 used in the treatment of kidney cancer is one example. Interferon alpha is used for chronic myelogenous leukeia, hairy cell leukaemia and Kaposi s sarcoma. Interferons are also used in the treatment of chronic infections such as viral hepatitis. Tumor necrosis factor (alpha), G/GM/M-CSF, and several other cellular factors are used in treatment of various cancers. Many of these cytokines produce serious side effects that limit their use. 

Bisphosphonates have been shown to be highly effective in osteoporosis, cancer bone metastasis, multiple myeloma, and Paget s disease of bone. While generally very well tolerated, these drugs do have potential adverse effects. Recently, the association of long-term high dose bisphosphonate treatment with osteonecrosis of the jaw has been described. This is a potentially serious side effect seen mostly in patients with multiple myeloma or... 

The possibility still exists that selective COX-2 inhibitors may be used to treat cancer if the beneficial effect outweighs the side effects. They may also have a therapeutic role in treating premature labour, since labour is induced partly through the uterotonic effect of PGs synthesised by COX-2. Non-selective NSABDs such as indomethacin will also delay premature labour but they are contraindicated for this condition since they also cause early closure of the ductus arteriosus through inhibition of COX-1, which synthesises PGs maintaining patency of the ductus [5]. 

Erythropoietin (Eprex ) is physiologically produced in the kidney and regulates proliferation of committed progenitors of red blood cells. It is used to substitute erythropoietin in severe anemias due to end stage renal disease or treatment of cancer with cytostatic agents. Side effects include hypertension and increased risk of thrombosis. 

When hematopoietic growth factors are used clinically, they can be associated with adverse effects. Very often patients who require hematopoietic growth factors are quite ill with their disease (i.e., cancer or kidney failure) or from their treatment (i.e., chemotherapy) and it is difficult to determine if a recombinant growth factor is responsible for a given side effect. Both rHuG-CSF and rHuGM-CSF are associated with mild-to-moderate... 

ADCC. Cetuximab is approved for treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) and squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN). Interestingly, an adverse event, acneiform rash seems to correlate with a better response to cetuximab, while there is no such correlation with expression levels of EGFR assessed by immunohistochemistry. Further side effects are rare infusion reactions and hypomagnesia. Two other anti-EGFR antibodies approved for clinical use are the fully human antibody panitumumab (Vectibix)... 

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