Abstract
One of the most essential methods of treating cancer is with cytotoxic chemotherapy. Several primary and secondary ophthalmologic cancers exist that benefit from treatment with chemotherapy. Most chemotherapy drugs have nonselective mechanisms of action against DNA, RNA, proteins, or metabolic pathways in tumor cells, but because of the nonselective properties of chemotherapy, normal cells are also affected. Chemotherapy is often given in combination with other agents to enhance cytotoxic effects, combat multidrug resistance, and reduce risk of relapse. Chemotherapy is given in repetitive cycles at maximum tolerated doses in order to allow for a constant fraction of tumor cell kill and to allow for recovery of affected normal cells. Antineoplastic drugs have the narrowest therapeutic window of any class of drugs, so the treating physician must balance the risk of toxicities against the risk of relapse in choosing chemotherapy regimens for patients with ophthalmologic cancers. This chapter will discuss the basic principles of cytotoxic chemotherapy, review some of the commonly used treatment regimens of ophthalmologic cancers, and review common toxicities of chemotherapy.
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Zahler, S., Ghazi, N.G., Singh, A.D. (2019). Principles and Complications of Chemotherapy. In: Singh, A., Damato, B. (eds) Clinical Ophthalmic Oncology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04489-3_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04489-3_13
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