Various types of anticancer medications kill cancer cells in different ways. The type of drug your doctor chooses to treat you can depend on your age, the type and stage of disease, your response to previous treatments and other factors.

Some blood cancers are treated effectively with a single drug. However, many conventional and investigational drug therapies combine drugs that attack cancer cells at different points in their growth cycles. This approach often makes therapy more effective and reduces the chance that the cancer cells will become resistant to a particular drug. As a result, more patients are achieving long-term remissions or cures.

Sometimes cancer cells may be resistant to the initial drugs used or can become resistant to the drugs after a period. In this case, your doctor may prescribe different drugs to target and kill the cancerous cells.

Below is a list of several types of anticancer drugs used to treat blood cancers. This list doesn't include every drug approved for blood cancers nor does it include drugs being studied in clinical trials. For information about the drugs mentioned on this page, visit Drug Listings.

Antimetabolites Antimitotics Antitumor Antibiotics Asparagine-Specific Enzymes Bisphosphonates Cell-Maturing Agents Chemotherapy DNA-Damaging Agents (Antineoplastics) and Alkylating Agents DNA-Repair Enzyme Inhibitors

Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors Hormones (Corticosteroids) Hypomethylating (Demethylating) Agents Immunomodulators Janus-Associated Kinase (JAK) Inhibitors Monoclonal Antibodies Phosphoinositide 3-kinase inhibitors (PI3K inhibitors)  Proteasome Inhibitors Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors

 

Antimetabolites

Antimetabolites mimic the building blocks of DNA or RNA that cancer cells need to survive and grow. When the cancer cell uses an antimetabolite instead of the natural substances, it can't produce normal DNA or RNA and the cell dies. Examples include:

• Cladribine (Leustatin®)
• Clofarabine (Clolar®)
• Cytarabine (cytosine arabinoside, ara—C, Cytosar—U®)
• Fludarabine (Fludara®)
• Hydroxyurea (Droxia®, Hydrea®)
• Mercaptopurine (6—MP, Purinethol®)
• Methotrexate (Rheumatrex®, Trexall®)
• Pralatrexate (Folotyn®)
• 6-thioguanine (thioguanine, Tabloid®)

 

Antimitotics

Antimitotics damage cancer cells by blocking a process called mitosis (cell division), which prevents cancer cells from dividing and multiplying. Examples include:

• Vinblastine (Velban®)
• Vincristine (Oncovin®)

 

Antitumor Antibiotics

Antitumor antibiotics prevent cell division by either binding to DNA to prevent the cells from duplicating or inhibiting RNA synthesis. Examples include:

• Bleomycin (Blenoxane®)
• Daunorubicin (Cerubidine®)
• Doxorubicin (Adriamycin®, Doxil®)
• Idarubicin (Idamycin®)
• Mitoxantrone (Novantrone®)

 

Asparagine-Specific Enzymes

Some enzymes can prevent cancer cells from surviving. Examples include:

• Asparaginase (Elspar®)
• Pegaspargase (Oncaspar®)

 

Bisphosphonates

Bisphosphonates are used to treat high levels of calcium in the blood caused by certain cancers, including myeloma. Bisphosphonates won't slow or stop the spread of cancer, but they can slow bone breakdown, increase bone thickness and reduce bone pain and fracture risk. Examples include:

• Pamidronate (Aredia®)
• Zoledronic acid (Zometa®)

 

Cell-Maturing Agents

Cell-maturing agents cause leukemia cells to mature. Examples include:

• Arsenic trioxide (Trisenox®)
• Tretinoin (all-trans retinoic acid [ATRA], Vesanoid®)

 

Chemotherapy

Click here to read about chemotherapy.

 

DNA-Damaging Agents (Antineoplastics) and Alkylating Agents

DNA-damaging agents (antineoplastics) and alkylating agents react with DNA to change it chemically and keep it from allowing cell growth. Examples include:

• Bendamustine (Treanda®)
• Busulfan (Busulfex®, Myleran®)
• Carboplatin (Paraplatin®)
• Carmustine (BCNU, BiCNU®)
• Chlorambucil (Leukeran®)
• Cisplatin (Platinol®-AQ)
• Cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan®)
• Dacarbazine (DTIC-Dome®)
• Denileukin diftitox (Ontak®)
• Ifosfamide (Ifex®)
• Lomustine (CCNU, ceeNU®)
• Mechlorethamine (nitrogen mustard, Mustargen®)
• Melphalan (Alkeran®)
• Procarbazine (Matulane®)

 

DNA-Repair Enzyme Inhibitors

DNA-repair enzyme inhibitors attack the cancer cell proteins (enzymes) that normally repair damage to DNA. DNA repair is a normal and vital process within the cell. Without this repair process, the cancer cell is much more susceptible to damage and cannot grow. Examples include:

• Etoposide (VP-16, Etopophos®, Toposar®, vepesid®)
• Teniposide (VM-26, Vumon®)
• Topotecan (Hycamtin®)

 

Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors

Histone deacetylase inhibitors attack cancer cells by targeting the proteins that support DNA in the cell nucleus. Examples include:

• Romidepsin (Istodax®)
• Vorinostat (Zolinza®)

 

Hormones (Corticosteroids)

Certain hormones (corticosteroids) can kill lymphocytes. They're believed to work by blocking cell metabolism through their effect on specific genes. In high doses, these synthetic hormones — relatives of the natural hormone cortisol — can kill malignant lymphocytes. Examples include:

• Dexamethasone (Decadron®)
• Methylprednisolone (Medrol®)
• Prednisone

 

Hypomethylating (Demethylating) Agents

Hypomethylating (demethylating) agents interfere with cancer cell duplication by slowing or reversing hypermethylation. Methylation is a critical part of cell growth and replication. This process sometimes speeds up in cancer cells. Examples include:

• Azacitidine (Vidaza®)
• Decitabine (Dacogen®)

Azacitidine and decitabine are also referred to as "antimetabolites."

 

Immunomodulators

Immunomodulators influence the immune system function by suppressing or stimulating immune response. Examples include:

• Interferon alfa-2a (Roferon®-A)
• Interferon alfa-2b (Intron® A)
• Lenalidomide (Revlimid®)
• Thalidomide (Thalomid®)

 

Janus-Associated Kinase (JAK) Inhibitors

JAK inhibitors block the enzymes JAK1, JAK2, JAK3 and tyrosine kinase 2, which play a role in the cell-signaling process that leads to the inflammatory and immune responses seen in certain diseases. JAK inhibitors interrupt the signaling pathway. An example includes:

• Ruxolitinib (Jakafi®)

 

Monoclonal Antibodies

Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-produced proteins that target specific antigens on the cancer cell's surface to interfere with the cell's function and destroy it. Some monoclonal antibodies are combined with a toxin or radioactive substance. Examples include:

• Alemtuzumab (Campath®)
• Ibritumomab tiuxetan (Zevalin®)
• Ofatumumab (Arzerra®)
• Rituximab (Rituxan®)

 

Phosphoinositide 3-kinase inhibitors (PI3K inhibitors) 

PI3K (phospho inositide 3 kinases) inhibitors are a group of closely related kinase proteins. They act like switches in the cell – turning on other proteins. Switching on PI3Ks may make cells grow and multiply, or trigger the development of blood vessels, or help cells to move around. In some cancers PI3K is permanently switched on, which means that the cancer cells grow uncontrollably. Researchers are developing new treatments that block (inhibit) PI3K. They hope this will stop the cancer cells growing and make them die. An example includes:

• Idelalisib (Zydelig®)

 

Proteasome Inhibitors

Proteasome inhibitors are designed to limit the effects of a cell structure called a proteasome. When a proteasome doesn't function properly, the cell dies. Cancer cells may be more susceptible to the effects of proteasome inhibition than normal cells. An example includes:

• Bortezomib (Velcade®)

 

Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors block the action of a specific, abnormal protein that gives cancer cells the signal to grow. Examples include:

• Dasatinib (Sprycel®)
• Imatinib mesylate (Gleevec®)
• Nilotinib (Tasigna®)

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Related Links

• For information about the drugs mentioned on this page, visit Drug Listings.