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History of Chemotherapy
The history of chemotherapy started with scientists examining the effects of military weapons. Today it is a race to cure rather than a race to kill.
The history of chemotherapy is based largely on western scientific methods and the desire to eliminate this terrible disease called cancer. At one point of time, chemotherapy was any form of medicine, but today it refers to using certain medicines to treat cancer. Chemotherapy may be used with surgery, radiation, or alone.
Early Chemotherapy: 1940 - 1950
The first uses of chemotherapy for cancer came as a result of the US Department of Defense's attempt to find therapeutic uses for mustard gas, a chemical warfare agent. Goodman and Gilman were two chemists working for the Department of Defense when they found the chemical was successful in treating lymphoid tumors in animal studies. Working with a surgeon named Linskog, they injected a similar agent, into a patient with cancer. They observed large reductions in the size of the patient's tumors.
Dr. Farber at Harvard Medical School found that folic acid was effective with children with leukemia just after World War II. Folic acid is a vitamin important for DNA development. Farber and Kilte worked with chemists at Lederle Labs on one of the first modern drug research studies. They found that folic acid blocked certain chemical agents (aminopterin and amethopterin) and was able to start remission in children with leukemia.
Farber's work was not accepted fully at first, as the belief at the time was that children with cancer should be left alone to die in peace. It took ten years to discover that a related version of these chemical agents would be the first to cure solid tumors. Variations of this method would lead to the development of 6-MP; a highly active anti-leukemia drug.
In 1955, the US Congress created the National Cancer Chemotherapy Service Center at the National Cancer Institute. This program focused on drug therapies for cancer and led much of the early research.
Chemotherapy: 1960 - 1970's
In 1965, Holland, Freireich and Frei found that combining drugs would solve problems of resistance to the single drug and made it harder for the tumor to fight the drug. This combination is called the POMP regimen. It made long term remissions possible in children with leukemia (acute lymphoblastic leukemia or ALL).
This discovery really enabled chemotherapy to move forward. Research with other combination therapies, developed in the UK, Germany and the USA, have ALL led to colon cancer becoming a largely curable disease. Currently, nearly all successful cancer chemotherapies use this combination approach.
New Findings
As in animal models, it was found that chemotherapy was more effective when the tumor is small. If the tumor were removed by surgery the chemo could destroy any remaining cancer cells. This is called adjuvant therapy.
Then Frei discovered that high doses of chemotherapy following surgery prevented the cancer from returning. 5-flourouracil, a DNA inhibitor was found to improve colon cancer survival when used with surgery. New technologies and discoveries continued throughout the 1970s and into today's research. Drugs used to treat malaria, plant based drugs and other chemicals, were all tested for the effectiveness in the treatment of cancer.
The Side Effects
Chemotherapy is basically a poison for the body. Managing the side effects became an important part of the treatment. Many chemo agents suppress bone marrow function, it will recover but it takes time. Platelet, red cell transfusions, and antibiotics are used to keep infection down, and are critical to patients recovery. The nausea can be unbearable for some patients, new drugs created to reduce this side effect and the use of new delivery methods have improved the patient's comfort during treatment.
The suppression of bone marrow led to a painful treatment of bone marrow transplanting before and after the chemo; it was later found to be ineffective and is now limited to Hodgkins disease. Targeted therapies are designed to limit the impact on a person's body. Antibody research is attempting to reduce the side effects and improve the results. More than 100 drugs are used today for chemotherapy.
How will chemo be given?
The process of chemo therapy is dependent on:
- the type of illness
- the type of drug, and
- the patient
New delivery methods are designed to better support patients' lifestyles. Backpack dispensers and ports in the body for drug intake have reduced some of the restrictions of cancer treatments. Pills are available in some cases since this is the easiest way for a person to take medication. The history of chemotherapy continues to advance because so many medical scientists are devoted to eradicating this terrible disease.
The history of colon cancer treatments is a great example of how a disease that was 100% fatal only 40 years ago can now be successfully managed and treated for millions of people.
Conclusion
Chemotherapy has allowed cancer survival rates to increase over time. The success rates of chemotherapy in some types of cancers including some colorectal cancers have been very significant. There are side effects and inconveniences still involved that are being studied in many countries and clinical trials. Having knowledge about the history of chemotherapy has taken science significantly closer to finding a cure. Talk to your doctors and medical professionals about the options available to determine the best course of action.
You may also want to look at a companion article on our website - the History of Colon Cancer.
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