Cellular Effects of Anticancer Drugs

Abstract

Current views concerning the operation of a model cell have been described, and an attempt to localize the action of various anticancer drugs in altering or damaging the machinery of the cell was made. A number of potent and specific drugs are now available which act at defined points on cell structures or metabolic pathways, generally to produce cellular injury and death. With the availability of new and precise techniques, knowledge in this area will continue to accumulate rapidly. It is hoped that drugs can be found which will have a more selective toxic effect on neoplastic cells. This may result from the discovery of qualitatively distinct pathways or structures in the neoplastic cell, or from the exploitation of quantitative differences between normal and cancer cells. In regard to the latter possibility, the advantages of combining drugs with known mechanisms of action to magnify a minor therapeutic advantage requires more attention. The development of resistance to specific drugs by cancer cells poses a formidable problem. Further accumulation in our knowledge of the precise action of new drugs in influencing cell growth will allow us to treat the ever present and pressing problem of disseminated cancer far more effectively.