| What are the possible chemotherapy drug toxicity? |
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| Written by Thomas Cutler | |
| Friday, 27 July 2007 | |
 What are the possible chemotherapy drug toxicity? Clinical use of the current anti-tumor chemotherapy drugs have different levels of side effects, some serious side effects is to restrict the use of drug dosage or the direct cause. They kill tumor cells at the same time, anti-normal tissue cells, in particular anti-human growth strong in the blood, lymphoid tissue cells. , And these cells and tissue is an important human immune defense system, undermining the body's immune system, cancer may be developing rapidly, causing serious consequences. The toxicity of chemotherapy at the recent toxicity and long-term toxicity of the two. Recent toxicity is divided into partial response (such as local tissue necrosis, and venous thrombosis go far), and systemic reactions (including the digestive tract, blood system, immune system, skin and mucosal reactions, the nervous system, liver damage, heart response, pulmonary toxicity, renal dysfunction and other reactions, etc.). Long-term toxicity is mainly reproductive dysfunction and carcinogenic, teratogenic role. In addition, because of its toxic side effects of chemotherapy, and sometimes there can be complications, common infection, bleeding, perforation, such as crystallization of uric acid. Common side effects are: (1) the local reaction: some irritation when strong intravenous chemotherapy drugs can cause severe local reaction. A. Phlebitis: for the performance of parts used by intravenous pain, redness, and sometimes that vein thrombosis and along the vein, such as skin pigmentation. B. Local tissue necrosis: When irritation strong drug leakage into subcutaneous tissue, the chemical can cause inflammation, swelling and pain or tissue necrosis ulcers prolonged Fuyu. (2) bone marrow suppression: Most chemotherapy drugs have different levels of bone marrow suppression, and bone marrow suppression of antitumor drugs is often the dose-limiting toxicity. Early in the bone marrow suppression can be expressed as the total cell leukocyte reduction is particularly serious when platelets, red blood cells, hemoglobin can be reduced, different drugs on the role of the fed bone strength, speed and duration of different, different levels of response, while patients also inability to have fatigue, decreased resistance and easy, infection, fever, bleeding and performance. (3) gastrointestinal toxicity: Most chemotherapy drugs can cause gastrointestinal reactions, for the performance of dry mouth, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, and sometimes there will be oral mucositis or ulcers. Constipation, paralytic ileus, diarrhea, abdominal pain and gastrointestinal bleeding also can be seen. (4) immunosuppressive: chemotherapy drugs are more general immunosuppressive drugs, the immune function of the body have different levels of inhibition, the body's immune system in the eradication of residual tumor cells in vivo plays a very important role when the immunocompromised, Tumor control was not easy, but speed up the process of recurrence or metastasis. (5) nephrotoxicity: Some chemotherapy drugs can cause kidney damage, mainly as acute tubular epithelial cell necrosis, and degeneration and interstitial edema, renal tubular expansion, a serious renal failure. Patients with low back pain can occur; hematuria, edema, abnormal urine tests. (6) liver injury: Chemotherapy Drug-induced liver reaction can be short-term and acute liver damage, including necrosis, inflammation, and can be due to long-term administration. Chronic liver injury, such as fibrosis and fatty change, granuloma formation, such as eosinophilic infiltration. Clinical manifestations can be abnormal liver function tests, liver pain, hepatomegaly, such as jaundice. (7) cardiac toxicity: The clinical manifestations of heart rate may be deranged, heart failure, cardiomyopathy syndrome (patients showed weakness, activities of difficulty in breathing, seizures and difficulty breathing at night, heart failure can be a fast pulse, breathing fast, the liver , the expansion of the heart, pulmonary edema, pleural effusions, and edema), abnormal ECG. (8) pulmonary toxicity: a small number of chemotherapy drugs can cause pulmonary toxicity, the performance of interstitial lung inflammation and pulmonary fibrosis. Clinical manifestations can be fever, cough, dyspnea, and more acute onset, with tablets cells increased. (9) neurotoxicity: Some chemotherapy drugs can cause peripheral neuritis, showed that (toe) numbness, tendon reflexes disappear, paresthesia, and sometimes also the occurrence of constipation or paralytic ileus. Some drugs can produce central nervous system toxicity, mainly as paresthesia, vibration flu weakened, numbness, tingling, gait disorders, ataxia, lethargy, mental disorders. (10) alopecia: Some chemotherapy drugs can cause varying degrees of hair loss, the general said from the hair only, and sometimes other hair can be affected, this is chemotherapy drugs damage hair follicle results. The degree of hair loss usually associated with the concentration of drug and dose. (11) others such as hearing loss, skin rashes, facial flushing or skin, nail deformation, osteoporosis, bladder and urethra to stimulate disease, infertility, amenorrhea, sexual dysfunction, male breast also increased by some chemotherapy agents. In addition, the chemotherapy drugs cause of social and psychological aspects of the aftermath should not be ignored. Chemotherapy drugs cause hair loss, sexual dysfunction patients can inferiority. Chemotherapy can lead to long-term deterioration of the patient in general, weight loss, weakness. Thus unable to work. Chemotherapy may be most difficult to deal with the complications of chemotherapy patients is the fear and anxiety. Some symptoms may be due to patients caused by psychological factors, such as some of their patients whenever he wanted to use the kind of drug, "hear" to a strong chemical smell and cause nausea and even vomiting. Such unrealistic experience is actually a hallucination, and patients together with the people, never to hear nor feel any smell, it is left with chemotherapy drugs to the psychological side effects. |
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| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 16 January 2008 ) |
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