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How do chemotherapy drugs interact chemically with cancer to kill the cancerous cells?
Question : How do chemotherapy drugs interact chemically with cancer to kill the cancerous cells?
I have to give a chemistry project tomorrow in class and I need to have a basic understanding of what goes on chemically between chemotherapy drugs and the cancerous cells. Like what element interacts with what and how the chemo drugs stop the cancer cells from replicating. If anyone even has a most basic chemical explanation as to what occurs I would really appreciate it.
chemotherapy
Best answer:
Answer by peter r
A nice article on your topic …
If you want a really general overview with how each type of chemotherapeutic agent works, wikipedia is the best place:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemotherapy
Elementally speaking, a small number of elements are used to form complexes, which can bind to DNA causing apoptosis. The best example of this is cisplatin, which is platinum based.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cisplatin
The most basic explanation is that the majority of chemotherapy drugs act against cancer cells by inhibiting mitosis. There are many different ways to act against mitosis, such as inhibiting microtubule growth, inhibiting topoisomerases (enzymes which allows the compacting of DNA via formation of coils).
good luck with your project!