Side Effects Of Alkylating Agents

The main purpose of anti-cancer drugs is to fight cancer cells. Cancer is a larger group of diseases that only have one thing in common that is abnormal cells growing at of control. While the growths of cells are very controlled, that is the opposite case with cancer. But with cancer the cell cycles are disrupted and the cells then divide causing them to multiply enabling a mass of cells called tumors. Benign and malignant are the two types of tumors. Benign are non-life threatening but malignant are and they need to be treated. The most common risks that cause cancer as genetic predisposition, which is inheriting a higher, chance to get cancer, over exposure to estrogen, and carcinogenic chemicals. There are multiple different treatments to …show more content…
These agents work in all phases of the cell cycle to stop the production of the cells. Alkylating agents can treat a variety of different cancers. But one negative side effect of Alkylating agents is that with the use of these drugs it can cause long-term damage to the bone marrow. With damage to the bone marrow it causes a risk of leukemia. But this risk is dose dependent. This means that low doses have smaller risks and the higher dose taken there is a greater risk to be diagnosed with leukemia. Within Alkylating Agents there are different classes. Ethylenimines, Nitrosoureas, Triazines, Nitrogen Mustard, and Alkylsulfates are the classes. Antimetabolites are another group; they hinder with both DNA and RNA growth by swapping the normal building blocks of DNA and RNA. This group of drugs can damage the cells during S phase. Three examples of drugs in Antimetabolites are Cladribine, Hydroxyurea, and Floxuridine. Anti-tumor antibiotics restrict with enzymes involved in DNA duplication. The benefit of these drugs is that it can work in all phases of the cell cycle. One downside to using Anti-tumor antibiotics is that high doses can be linked to heart damage. Topoisomerase inhibitors conflict with enzymes like Anti-tumor antibiotics. This is done to detached the strands of DNA that would be imitated. Common cancers Topoisomerase inhibitor drugs treat are leukemia, lung, and ovarian cancers. A disadvantage to taking Topoisomerase inhibitor drugs is that there is a greater chance of being diagnosed with a second cancer. Mitotic inhibitor drugs are plant alkaloids that come from natural products and work by stopping mitosis or enzymes from making the proteins that the cancer cell would need to produce more. This drug treatment works during the m cycle of the cell phase. Two side effects from Mitotic inhibitor drugs are that it can harm cells in all stages of the cell