Chemotherapy is a type of cancer treatment that attempts to destroy the malignant cells within the body through exposing them to toxic substances. It is an extreme form of treatment that causes significant and disruptive side effects to the patient, yet is used because of its notable success in containing and eliminating cancer cells. Since its initial use in the 1940s, the medical community has continued to hone and research methods to increase the effectiveness and decrease the discomfort of chemotherapy.
Origins
The origins of chemotherapy are the development of nitrogen mustard as an agent of chemical warfare during World War II. Alfred Gilman and Louis Goodman, both pharmacologists, were directed by The United States Department of Defense to research the nature and potential alternate uses for a variety of chemical warfare agents. Gilman and Goodman noted the anti-cancerous properties nitrogen mustard showed in mice when injected intravenously, and in 1946 they partnered with Dr. Gustav Linskog to perform trials in humans who suffered from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The results were a reduction in tumors for the first several weeks after injecting the nitrogen.
Anti-Folates
As Gilman and Goodman were working with nitrogen mustard, Dr. Sidney Farber was independently studying the effectiveness of folic acid on leukemia. Folic acid was a new vitamin that had been discovered just years before in 1937 and had proven an integral piece of DNA function. Farber utilized folate analogues, chemical compounds that denied the metabolism of folic acid, to deny the growth of leukemia cells and successfully tested his anti-folates on human subjects in 1948.
Other Research
Based on the findings of Dr. Farber, research clinics around the world began to experiment with various compounds to identify those that effectively stopped and diminished malignant cell growth. Notably, Dr. Joseph Burchenal of New York's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center developed anti-metabolites during the early 1950s. The prolific amount of research on the subject prompted the United States Congress to establish the National Cancer Chemotherapy Service Center in 1955. This was the first official use of the word "chemotherapy," that is a combination of the words "chemical" and "therapy."
Combination Therapy
Combination chemotherapy was first identified in 1965 by James Holland and Emil Freireich, who hypothesized that the most effective form of intravenous chemical treatment would utilize several different types of chemical agents together to prevent drug resistance from occurring. The result of their tests, which combined anti-folates, nitrogen mustard derivatives, 6-mercaptopurine, and prednisone, was long term remission in leukemia patients.
Considerations
Chemotherapy continues to be a major focal point for cancer treatment research. Increased attention has been placed on targeted therapy, which provides more localized and therefore less harmful treatment. Also, the medical community continues to identify chemicals that will destroy malignant cells with minimal impact on the healthy cells and tissue.
Tags: nitrogen mustard, cancer treatment, chemical warfare, destroy malignant, destroy malignant cells