Prevalence and Management of Adverse Effects

FIGURE 36-1 T Phases of the cell cycle. Examples of cell-cycle-specific drugs are listed next to the phase of the cycle they act on. Examples of cell-cycle-nonspecific drugs are listed below the figure. See text for more details. 

Consequently, antineoplastic drugs typically have a very low therapeutic index compared with drugs that are used to treat less serious disorders (see Chapter 1). Considering that cancer is usually life threatening, these toxic effects must be expected and tolerated during chemotherapeutic treatments. Some side effects, however, can be treated with other drugs. In particular, gastrointestinal disturbances (e.g., nausea, 

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