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Multi-Drug Therapies Analysis

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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

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