Chemotherapy and Its Side Effects: Chapter 3 - Side Effects of Chemotherapy

D. Other Side Effects

D.6. Acral erythema

Acral erythema is a side effect of chemotherapy that can occur days to months after a patient begins treatment. Its symptoms include reddening, swelling, and desquamation of the skin, often of the palms and soles. Acral erythema has been reported in patients with prolonged treatment of cytotoxic anticancer drugs. Usually its symptoms can disappear within weeks after discontinuation of the offending drug.

 
© Jiajiu Shaw, 2020

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book, "SIDE EFFECTS OF CHEMOTHERAPY AND RADIOTHERAPY", prepared by Dr. Jiajiu Shaw, Dr. Frederick Valeriote, and Dr. Ben Chen.

Chemotherapy and Its Side Effects: Chapter 2 - Other Types of Anticancer Drugs

H. Other Types of Anticancer Drugs

Generally speaking, drugs in categories A to D affect DNA synthesis and/or cell division; they can also attack fast growing normal cells, including bone marrow cells, hair follicle cells, and crypt cells as mentioned before. The drugs in categories E to G including kinase modulators, hormone treatment, and mAbs can modulate tumor cell behavior without directly attacking DNA in those cells.

Other than those in these A-G categories, a number of newer approaches have been developed or under development. For example, making antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) is one of the newer approaches. In an ADC, a potent anticancer drug is covalently linked to an antibody (the whole mAb or a fragment of an antibody) corresponding to specific antigen differentially overexpressed in cancer cells. With this design, the conjugate is able to discriminate between cancer cells (target of the antibody) and normal cells; once the ADC hooks up with the cancer cell, the potent anticancer drugs is released and attack the cancer cell. The end result is that anticancer effect may be increased and the side effects may be reduced.

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2019

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book, "SIDE EFFECTS OF CHEMOTHERAPY AND RADIOTHERAPY", prepared by Dr. Jiajiu Shaw, Dr. Frederick Valeriote, and Dr. Ben Chen.

Chemotherapy and Its Side Effects: Chapter 2 - Antimetabolites

Chapter 2

Anticancer Drugs - B. Antimetabolites

An antimetabolite is a drug that interferes with normal cell metabolism by inhibiting certain metabolite pathways and stopping cell growth or cell division. The molecular structure of an antimetabolite is usually similar to the metabolite that they interfere with. They usually induce cell death during the S phase of the cell cycle.

For example, folic acid is an important component in the synthesis and repair of DNA and RNA. An analog of folic acid, methotrexate, has a structure that is almost identical to that of folic acid but acts very differently; methotrexate inhibits cell division to achieve its anticancer effect.

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2018

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book, "SIDE EFFECTS OF CHEMOTHERAPY AND RADIOTHERAPY", prepared by Dr. Jiajiu Shaw, Dr. Frederick Valeriote, and Dr. Ben Chen.