chemotherapy
In the early 1900s Paul Ehrlich*, a German bacteriologist looked for chemicals to eliminate fungi, bacteria, protozoa and worms without harming the patient. Ehrlich found that a new artificial dye was effective in killing specific bacteria, so he concentrated his efforts in this area. He produced Salvarsan, which until penicillin, was the best treatment for syphilis.
Antibiotics were the next influential step in chemotherapy. Sir Alexander Fleming* discovered penicillin in 1929 and this led to an assortment of antibiotics. Another significant step in chemotherapy was the use of a red dye called prontosil, discovered in 1925 by Gerhard Domagk, a German chemist and pathologist. This red dye was revolutionary because it cured many kinds of bacterial infections.
Important discoveries for curing cancer did not follow until 1941, when Charles Benton Huggins and C.C. Hodges used sex hormone therapy for prostate and breast cancer. Shortly after in 1945, a chemical called mechlorethamine, or nitrogen mustard, was used to fight lymphomas and certain solid tumors.
Currently, there are two types of anti-tumor drugs. The first are cell-cycle-specific drugs, which attack a cancer at a certain time in its growth. The other type includes cell-cycle-nonspecific drugs, including antibiotics, hormones and endocrine inhibitors. Ironically, sometimes these drugs are themselves carcinogenic. Though many anti-tumor chemotherapy treatments attack the patient, they are still specialized for cancer cells.
ONE-LINER: Chemotherapy is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs
EXTRA-CONNECTIONS: None
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
“Chemotheraputic Drugs.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. 15th ed. 1977.
“Chemotherapy.” McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. 8th ed. 1997.
“Paul Ehrlich”.Encyclopædia Britannica.2004. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
...## History[]
Main article: History of cancer chemotherapy
Sidney Farber did pioneering work in chemotherapy.
The first use of small-molecule drugs to treat cancer was in the early 20th century, although the specific chemicals first used were not originally intended for that purpose. Mustard gas was used as a chemical warfare agent during World War I and was discovered to be a potent suppressor of hematopoiesis (blood production).[187]
A similar family of compounds known as nitrogen mustards were studied further during World War II at the Yale School of Medicine.[188] It was reasoned that an agent that damaged the rapidly growing white blood cells might have a similar effect on cancer.[188] Therefore, in December 1942, several people with advanced lymphomas (cancers of the lymphatic system and lymph nodes) were given the drug by vein, rather than by breathing the irritating gas.[188] Their improvement, although temporary, was remarkable.[189]
Concurrently, during a military operation in World War II, following a German air raid on the Italian harbour of Bari, several hundred people were accidentally exposed to mustard gas, which had been transported there by the Allied forces to prepare for possible retaliation in the event of German use of chemical warfare. The survivors were later found to have very low white blood cell counts.[190]
After WWII was over and the reports declassified, the experiences converged and led researchers to look for other substances that might have similar effects against cancer. The first chemotherapy drug to be developed from this line of research was mustine. Since then, many other drugs have been developed to treat cancer, and drug development has exploded into a multibillion-dollar industry, although the principles and limitations of chemotherapy discovered by the early researchers still apply.[191]