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Antineoplastic (chemotherapy)药物药物用于治疗癌症。他们go by several other names such as anticancer or cytotoxic drugs. The National Cancer Institute’s SEER*RX database lists nearly 2000 antineoplastic drugs.

Chemotherapy drugs can be used in different ways in cancer treatment. They may be the primary treatment for your cancer or may be used to shrink tumors before or after other treatments. Your doctor may recommend antineoplastic drugs in combination with treatments such as:

The exact way antineoplastic drugs stop the spread of cancer depends on the specific medications used. They’re highly toxic and often lead to side effects such as脱发,nausea, andfatigue.

Keep reading to learn how antineoplastic drugs work and when they’re used.

Antineoplastic agents are drugs used to treat cancer. These medications contain chemicals that kill cells that rapidly divide such as cancer cells. They may also kill healthy cells in your body that replicate quickly such as skin cells or cells in your hair follicles.

Antineoplastic drugs可以根据其行动方法进行分类。

Alkylating and alkylating-like agents

Alkylating agents damage the DNA of cancer cells to keep them from replicating. They’re used to treat many types of cancer including

抗肿瘤抗生素

These medications change the DNA inside cancer cells to keep them from replicating. High doses can potentially damage your heart, so lifetime limits are often imposed. Some types of cancer that they’re used to treat include:

Antimetabolites

Antimetabolites bind to the molecules in cancer cells that make up DNA and RNA to keep them from replicating. Some cancers that they’re commonly used to treat are:

  • leukemia
  • breast cancer
  • ovarian cancer
  • 结肠癌

Plant alkaloids (topoisomerase inhibitors)

These drugs keep cancer cells from replicating by retaining enzymes that cancer cells need to make copies of themselves. They’re commonly used to treat:

  • breast cancer
  • lung cancer
  • 一些白血病
  • lymphoma
  • ovarian cancer
  • multiple myeloma

Hormonal agents

Hormonal agents help kill cancers that are sensitive to hormone levels such as:

Miscellaneous agents

Many other antineoplastic drugs help kill cancer cells but don’t fit neatly into one of the other categories.

Antineoplastic drugs are used to treat cancer in a variety of situations and stages. Here are some of the ways it may be used.

  • 诱导化疗。抗肿瘤药物在放射治疗前用来缩小癌细胞。
  • Adjuvant chemotherapy.Chemotherapy administered after other treatments to shrink remaining cancer cells.
  • Consolidation chemotherapy.诱导疗法后服用的化学疗法药物杀死剩余的癌细胞。
  • Neoadjuvant treatment.Chemotherapy used to reduce cancer size before surgery.
  • 初级疗法。化学疗法用作癌症的主要治疗方法。
  • Combination therapy.Chemotherapy drugs combined with one or more other treatments as the primary therapy
  • Maintenance therapy.Antineoplastic drugs administered after other therapies to prevent cancer relapse or to slow the growth of advanced cancer.
  • Palliative therapy.化学疗法用于延长寿命并增加被认为无法治愈的癌症患者的整体健康。

根据 National Cancer Institute ，抗肿瘤药可用作癌症的主要治疗方法：

Antineoplastic drugs are usually administered at a hospital through an IV directly into a vein. Some medications used to treat skin cancer can be directly applied to your skin.

Some types of chemotherapy can be taken as oral pills. Others are delivered locally to your tumor either by injecting the medication into a nearby vein or by inserting a device near your cancer that slowly releases the medication.

抗肿瘤药物通常以持续约2至6周的循环施用。您在周期的某些日子会收到抗肿瘤药，并在剩余的日子里恢复。例如，如果您要经历2周的周期，则可能会在第1、2和3天接受治疗，然后从第4天到14天就没有治疗。

Chemotherapygenerally takes about 3 to 6 months, depending on the number of cycles you need, but can vary widely depending on the type of cancer you have and your response to treatment.

抗塑性药物可以杀死您体内的健康细胞，尤其是那些快速复制的细胞，例如毛囊中的细胞，消化道的衬里和皮肤。对健康细胞的损害导致许多副作用，其中包括：

一旦治疗结束，大多数化学疗法症状就会解决。最好让您的医生知道您正在经历的副作用。通常可以修改抗肿瘤药的剂量以减轻副作用。

Antineoplastic drugs are one of the most common treatments for cancer. Their effectiveness depends on the type of cancer you have, how aggressive your cancer is, and what stage it’s in.

对于某些类型的癌症，有很多研究支持化学疗法来改善生存的使用。但是对于其他癌症，几乎没有证据表明化学疗法比其他疗法更有效。

A 2019 study 研究了作为辅助治疗的化学疗法的有效性，以增加在筛查的各个阶段发现的乳腺癌患者的总体存活率。研究人员发现，辅助化疗可能使间隔乳腺癌患者受益。 Interval breast cancer is cancer discovered between regularly scheduled mammograms and tends to have a poor prognosis.

A 2020 study found that induction chemotherapy may improve the overall survival rate of certain subgroups of people with high-grade extremity or trunk soft tissue sarcoma. Subgroups of people who may benefit include:

  • people over the age of 70
  • African Americans
  • people with large tumors
  • 受到辐射的人
  • 在大量中心接受治疗的人

Antineoplastic drugs, also called chemotherapy drugs, help kill cancer cells. There are thousands of antineoplastic drugs used in cancer treatment.

These medications often improve the overall survival of people with cancer, but they also commonly cause side effects such as hair loss, fatigue, nausea, and vomiting.

Talk with your doctor before treatment to weigh the pros and cons for your specific type of cancer.