Types of Chemotherapy

There are five primary groups of chemotherapy medications:

Alkylating agents are most effective when a cancer cell is its resting phase and not actively dividing.

Plant alkaloids work as cancer cells divide. As the name implies, this class of chemotherapy drugs derives from plants.

Antitumor antibiotics are derived from fungi and work at many different phases of a cancer cell’s life cycle.

Antimetabolites mimic components of cancer cells and work at specific phases of a cancer cell’s life cycle to disrupt its ability to divide.

Topoisomerase inhibitors act by weakening the structure of a cancer cell that is necessary for it to divide.

There are other types of chemotherapy medications which are unique in their ability to attack cancer cells.