Principles of Cancer Treatment

This review is divided into three primary sections dealing with management of cancer patients, the specific basis of cancer treatment, and specific chemotherapeutic agents. The first section outlines the diagnosis, staging, performance status, and treatment of cancer. The discussion of the specific basis of cancer treatment describes cancer biology (including its transformation and proliferation, cell viability and cell death, and invasion and metastases) and the principles of cancer pharmacology. The discussion on pharmacology details dose response and schedule, drug resistance, combination chemotherapy, common toxicities, and pharmacokinetics and pharmacogenetics. Among the specific chemotherapeutic agents discussed are drugs that alter nucleic acid synthesis or function (including DNA alkylating and cross-linking agents, inhibitors of nucleic acid synthesis, and DNA topoisomerase inhibitors); antimicrotubule drugs (eg, vinca alkaloids, taxanes, and estramustine); drugs that affect growth factors, receptors, and signal transduction pathways; drugs that inhibit metastases or angiogenesis; gene-based therapies; and immunotherapies. Tables describe the World Health Organization Perf