Canadian Medical Guide > Chemicals and Drugs > Antineoplastic and Immunosuppressive Agents > Antineoplastic Agents Terms and Definitions

Antineoplastic Agents

Medical Definition:	Substances that inhibit or prevent the proliferation of NEOPLASMS.
Guide Notes:	/admin: various admin procedures are available, as PERFUSION, REGIONAL; CHEMOEMBOLIZATION, THERAPEUTIC and INFUSIONS, INTRA-ARTERIAL; do not confuse with ANTICARCINOGENIC AGENTS which prevent or reduce the development of cancer while ANTINEOPLASTIC AGENTS
Also Called:	Antimitotic Agents,Cytostatic Agents

Antineoplastic Agents Categories.

	Antibiotics, Antineoplastic - Chemical substances, produced by microorganisms, inhibiting or preventing the proliferation of neoplasms.
	Anticarcinogenic Agents - Agents that reduce the frequency or rate of spontaneous or induced tumors independently of the mechanism involved. They differ from antineoplastic agents in that they prevent neoplasms from forming. The anticarcinogenic substances can be divided into three categories. The first consists of compounds that prevent the formation of carcinogens from precursor substances. The second group consists of "blocking agents" which inhibit carcinogenesis by preventing carcinogenic agents from reaching or reacting with critical target sites in the tissues. The third group is the "suppressor agents" which act by suppression of expression of neoplasia in cells previously exposed to carcinogens that would otherwise cause neoplasms.
	Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic - Antimetabolites that are useful in cancer chemotherapy.
	Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating - A class of drugs that differs from other alkylating agents used clinically in that they are monofunctional and thus unable to cross-link cellular macromolecules. Among their common properties are a requirement for metabolic activation to intermediates with antitumor efficacy and the presence in their chemical structures of N-methyl groups, that after metabolism, can covalently modify cellular DNA. The precise mechanisms by which each of these drugs acts to kill tumor cells are not completely understood. (From AMA, Drug Evaluations Annual, 1994, p2026)
	Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal - Antineoplastic agents that are used to treat hormone-sensitive tumors. Hormone-sensitive tumors may be hormone-dependent, hormone-responsive, or both. A hormone-dependent tumor regresses on removal of the hormonal stimulus, by surgery or pharmacological block. Hormone-responsive tumors may regress when pharmacologic amounts of hormones are administered regardless of whether previous signs of hormone sensitivity were observed. The major hormone-responsive cancers include carcinomas of the breast, prostate, and endometrium; lymphomas; and certain leukemias. (From AMA Drug Evaluations Annual 1994, p2079)
	Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic - Agents obtained from higher plants that have demonstrable cytostatic or antineoplastic activity.
	Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - The use of two or more chemicals simultaneously or sequentially in the drug therapy of neoplasms. The drugs need not be in the same dosage form.

Antineoplastic Agents Medical Definitions and Terms

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