Cancer unlike other illnesses is very unique in the fact we have to accept a certain level of toxicity well above that of any other group of pharmacologic agents. It is the toxicity of these agents which is the single most important factor preventing their use in doses that could often be curative. Ultimately the utility of most chemotherapy drugs depends on their therapeutic-to-toxic ratio, comparing the good and bad effects (Alwood et al, 1997). Other variables include the severity, predictability and reversibility of side effects. Although we are learning a lot more about the predictive side effects of many individual cancer drugs, most cancer patients require multi-drug therapies. Cancer patients often have chemotherapy regimens consisting of three or four different compounds along with other supportive therapy. …show more content…
Although studies have shown multi-drug therapies to be more effective in treating some cancers (Lokeic et al 2013), interactions with other medications can cause changes in the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of a drug that can significantly alter its efficacy or toxicity (Finley RS et al, 1992).The potential for producing side effects and the difficulty in identifying the offending agents are multiplied many fold as a result. Such interactions may result in antagonistic, synergistic, or unexpected response. Consequences of these interactions can range from inactivation of cancer fighting medications, severe adverse reaction to patient death. It has been reported that more than 20 % of all adverse reactions to drugs are caused by interactions between drugs (Kuhlmann J et al, 2001). With all these variables making it harder to create a more individually tailored treatment growing research in the area of pharmacogenetics has set new aim on solving this problem and moving closer to personalized
According to the oral cancer foundation, “Chemotherapy is the use of chemicals to destroy cancer cells. Chemotherapy works by interfering with the cancer cell's ability to grow. It is one of the three main methods utilized to treat cancer.” With cancer being a potentially fatal disease it is important to diagnose it as soon as possible. the oncologist have to study the chemicals used so that they can determine what chemicals will treat the cancer or disease the best and what chemicals can be mixed together without any major side effects. The drugs can be divided into groups based on how they work, their chemical structure, and their relationship to other drugs.
The trial involves giving a combination therapy to patients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma. Patients with advance malignancies may have other comorbidities and may be receiving multiple medications. This will increase the risk of side effects and the possibility of drugs interactions when receiving the investigational product. The investigational product itself has a wide range
Prescription drugs are a major life factor to both young and old in our society. The vast variety of drugs used to treat many medical conditions is endless. Firstly, glyburide (Diabeta) is an oral diabetes medicine that helps control blood sugar levels. Diabeta is the trade name for glyburide; similarly glyburide is the generic name for Diabeta. Glyburide (Diabeta) is of the sulfonylurea class (hypoglycemic agents) which treats type two diabetes (Sorrentino, 2013). Because of glyburide medications, the pancreas releases more insulin into the blood stream. In type two diabetes, the body is unable to store excess sugar, and therefore, this sugar remains in the bloodstream (Web MD, 2013).
The most common genes that affect drug metabolism are the cytochrome P450 (CYP) genes, which control the reaction of more than 70 percent of prescribed drugs. If you have variants of CYP genes, you may not get the predicted therapeutic benefit of the drug, or you may experience serious side effects. If the gene variant results in a slower rate of drug metabolism, the drug may build up in your body and cause a toxic reaction. If your genetic make-up causes a faster rate of drug metabolism, the medicine may be inactivated before you get the therapeutic benefit. If you have a genetic variant that is associated with the way a medicine may perform, your doctor can devise a drug treatment plan that includes medicines and doses that are safe and effective for
I can draw from these results that as the chemotherapeutic drug concentration is increased the cell viability decreases. In HEPG2 the viability at the control was 100% but when the drug was added at concentration of 40µm the cell viability decreased to 2.62%. From these examples we can deduce that the chemotherapeutic drug added is successful in its use and that it is targeting the cancerous cells. The drug damages the genes present inside the cell line
NANDA: A pattern of regulating and integrating into daily living a program for treatment of illness and the sequelae of illness that is unsatisfactory for meeting specific health goals.
Polypharmacy has become one of the strongest factors to increase the risks of drug to drug interaction, drug disease related, and wrong dose of medication (Tseng, Lee, Chen, Hsu, Huang, & Huang, 2015). Additionally, polypharmacy has impacted the healthcare industry in the most common ways imaginable, which is associated to several geriatric syndromes, decrease functional ability, and the most popular one is the increase of healthcare cost (Seng, et. al., 2015). Furthermore, polypharmacy is defined as various drugs simultaneously taken by a patient, such as five or more drugs.
The treatment plan for our patient that the doctor has chosen is chemotherapy. Chemotherapy includes the use of anticancer drugs in combination, generally over a couple of years (Movva, 2015). The drugs will be taken in either by mouth or by IV. The treatment plan should last about a month for our patient. There will be many side effects from the chemotherapy. Possible side effects include hair loss, nausea and vomiting, and increased risk for infection or bleeding in the short term, as well as other potential health problems later (Ben-Joseph, 2014). Doctors will keep record of side effects in order to treat patient with extra care if needed.
All have their individual negative effect to the body system; Methotrexate that believe could activated the tumors to be malignant and sclerosis, Cytoxan causes bleeding urine and Levamisole destroy white blood cells. Most of the chemo drug have extreme impact to the bone marrow that will suppress the cells regeneration and next weaken the immune system ( Corrie, 2004) . That’s why most patient undergo chemotherapy become weaker and other side effect such as losing appetite, hair loss and bad migraine. The chemo drugs also could causes damage of organs such as liver and kidney as it become resistance to those organs in order to travel in body
Cancer is a challenging and fatal disease which can strike at any minute. The typical treatment for the illness includes radiation and chemotherapy, however both treatments have terrible side-effects which are frequently the primary cause of death in cancer patients. Thankfully, the illness has been dealt with naturally for centuries, so there are many alternative treatments that can assist.
Chemotheraputic drugs used in cancer treatment can be administered as a single agent or in combination (combination chemotherapy). It is known that the combination works better because different drugs work by different mechanisms and thus decreasing the chance of developing of resistant cancer cells. Also, combination allows the use of each drug at its optimal dose without side effects that can’t be tolerated by the patient. Sometimes combination chemotherapy is used to reduce symptoms and increase quality of life. As many things in this life, combination is a double edged sword may lead to serous side effects and risks and which could be reversible or irreversible.
Combining more than one drug in the treatment usually is patient specific based and examines which combination will result in better outcomes. But as advantages added up with combination therapy, it might result that the side effects will increase, so it is very important not to use two drugs that have similar toxicity.
The continuous and relentless research done in the medical field is becoming beneficial for human kind. When the human genome was discovered it was a revolutionary discovery. This information helps explain many medical issues, and can help lead to many cures. The concept of personalized medical treatment is fairly new, but an idea that can be used in many medical problems. An area where personalized medicine can be most beneficial is in the treatment of cancer. The typical treatment of cancer has been usually a general approach. Drugs usually used in cancer treatment are designed to kill the cancer cells, but also healthy cells. Patients may experience severe toxicities, side effects, or develop more cancerous tumors. The patients’ well-being is not the only affected with the generalized cancer drug treatment, but the
Pharmacodynamics is the study of how a drug reacts on a living organism. Pharmacodynamics with pharmacokinetics helps explain the relationship between the
Although these side effects are monitored, evaluated and controlled, the long-term side effects such as oncogenic effect remains the main concern and uncertain. While during the past decades, drug companies’ effort in influencing and pushing the market, patients and even healthcare