• During a military operation in World War II, a group of people were accidentally exposed to mustard gas and were later found to have very low white blood cell counts. (wikidoc.org)
  • With succeeding generations of tumor cells, differentiation is typically lost, growth becomes less regulated, and tumors become less responsive to most chemotherapeutic agents. (wikidoc.org)
  • Because only a fraction of the cells in a tumor die with each treatment (fractional kill), repeated doses must be administered to continue to reduce the size of the tumor. (worldsbest.rehab)
  • Dosage of chemotherapy can be difficult: If the dose is too low, it will be ineffective against the tumor, whereas, at excessive doses, the toxicity (side-effects) will be intolerable to the person receiving it. (worldsbest.rehab)
  • Broadly, most chemotherapeutic drugs work by impairing mitosis ( cell division ), effectively targeting fast-dividing cells . (wikidoc.org)
  • The term chemotherapy has come to connote non-specific usage of intracellular poisons to inhibit mitosis (cell division) or induce DNA damage, which is why inhibition of DNA repair can augment chemotherapy. (worldsbest.rehab)
  • Traditional chemotherapeutic agents are cytotoxic by means of interfering with cell division (mitosis) but cancer cells vary widely in their susceptibility to these agents. (worldsbest.rehab)
  • To a large extent, chemotherapy can be thought of as a way to damage or stress cells, which may then lead to cell death if apoptosis is initiated. (worldsbest.rehab)
  • Therefore, in the 1940s, several patients with advanced lymphomas (cancers of certain white blood cells) were given the drug by vein, rather than by breathing the irritating gas. (wikidoc.org)
  • As chemotherapy affects cell division, tumors with high growth fractions (such as acute myelogenous leukemia and the aggressive lymphomas , including Hodgkin's disease ) are more sensitive to chemotherapy, as a larger proportion of the targeted cells are undergoing cell division at any time. (wikidoc.org)
  • The belief that T-cell lymphomas have a worse prognosis than B-cell lymphomas remains controversial. (oncolink.org)
  • REAL/WHO- [6] - classification includes leukemias and lymphomas, with 3 categories based on lineage and morphology (Hodgkin, B cell, and T/NK cell). (oncolink.org)
  • As these drugs cause damage to cells they are termed cytotoxic . (wikidoc.org)
  • Cancer is the uncontrolled growth of cells coupled with malignant behavior: invasion and metastasis . (wikidoc.org)
  • Unfortunately, scientists have yet to identify specific features of malignant and immune cells that would make them uniquely targetable (barring some recent examples, such as the Philadelphia chromosome as targeted by imatinib ). (wikidoc.org)
  • The nature of disease (indolent vs. aggressive) is correlated to the stage of lymphocytic differentiation of the malignant cells. (oncolink.org)
  • Malignant blast cells (i.e. diffuse large B-cell lymphoma) are fast-growing and result in aggressive disease, whereas malignant mature lymphocytes (i.e. follicular lymphoma) behave indolently. (oncolink.org)
  • Most of these malignancies are of B-cell origin. (oncolink.org)
  • Because of the effect on immune cells (especially lymphocytes), chemotherapy drugs often find use in a host of diseases that result from harmful overactivity of the immune system against self (so-called autoimmunity). (worldsbest.rehab)
  • It was reasoned that an agent that damaged the rapidly growing white blood cells might have a similar effect on cancer. (wikidoc.org)
  • Many of the side effects of chemotherapy can be traced to damage to normal cells that divide rapidly and are thus sensitive to anti-mitotic drugs: cells in the bone marrow, digestive tract and hair follicles. (worldsbest.rehab)
  • Chemotherapy , in its most general sense, refers to treatment of disease by chemicals that kill cells, specifically those of micro-organisms or cancer . (wikidoc.org)
  • Importantly, the use of drugs (whether chemotherapy, hormonal therapy or targeted therapy) constitutes systemic therapy for cancer in that they are introduced into the blood stream and are therefore in principle able to address cancer at any anatomic location in the body. (worldsbest.rehab)
  • This results in the most common side-effects of chemotherapy: myelosuppression (decreased production of blood cells, hence also immunosuppression), mucositis (inflammation of the lining of the digestive tract), and alopecia (hair loss). (worldsbest.rehab)
  • Performance status is often used as a measure to determine whether a person can receive chemotherapy, or whether dose reduction is required. (worldsbest.rehab)
  • However, it is necessary to conduct high-quality clinical studies in the future, considering the possibility of local and language bias, heterogeneity of carcinoma and intervention, and the risk of bias.Registration: PROSPERO CRD4202341054. (bvsalud.org)
  • RESULTS: After IPTW, the clinical characters in the high preoperative WBC count group and the low preoperative WBC count group were balanced. (bvsalud.org)
  • In addition to allogeneic HCT, procedures associated with high risk of GVHD include transplantation of solid organs containing lymphoid tissue and transfusion of unirradiated blood products. (medscape.com)
  • However, all studies had a high risk of bias due to non-blinding, and most studies had a high or uncertain risk of bias in creating random assignment orders and concealing them. (bvsalud.org)
  • This means that other fast dividing cells such as those responsible for hair growth and for replacement of the intestinal epithelium (lining) are also often affected. (wikidoc.org)
  • Drugs affect "younger" tumors (i.e. more differentiated) more effectively, because mechanisms regulating cell growth are usually still preserved. (wikidoc.org)
  • Translocations are thought to occur during normal gene rearrangements (Ig, T-cell receptor). (oncolink.org)
  • Autologous graft versus host disease (GVHD) involving the skin of a patient's arm appeared shortly after signs of engraftment appeared. (medscape.com)
  • European investigators report high complete response (CR) rates with melphalan for breast cancer. (nih.gov)
  • 6. [Comparison of regimen-related toxicity between high-dose melphalan and ICE as a preparatory regimen for autologous stem cell transplantation]. (nih.gov)
  • 14. High-dose carmustine, etoposide and melphalan ('BEM') with autologous stem cell transplantation: a dose-toxicity study. (nih.gov)
  • We reported the busulfan, melphalan, and etoposide (BuME) conditioning regimen was effective in patients with relapsed or high-risk NHL. (e-crt.org)
  • Less than half of these patients are cured, even with the use of high-dose therapy followed by autologous bone marrow or stem cell rescue. (medscape.com)
  • However, those with high-risk disease continue to have very poor outcomes despite intensive therapy. (medscape.com)
  • Interacts with retinoic acid responsive elements on DNA, which results in gene activation and differentiation of target cells. (medscape.com)
  • This trial studied the feasibility of two tandem high-dose intensification therapies in an attempt to optimize disease response and duration. (nih.gov)
  • Antineoplastic drugs have a narrow therapeutic index and effective doses usually cause severe toxicities, some of which can be life threatening. (medscape.com)