Cancer Therapy

Drugs in Cancer Therapy
Supportive care agents
Anti-nausea medications
Pain medications
Growth factors
To strengthen bone
To prevent allergic reactions
For therapy-related diarrhea
For therapy-related nerve
Prevent and treat blood clots
Miscellaneous medications
Supportive medications A-Z

Supportive Care Agents

Supportive care agents are used to prevent or counteract side effects of cancer therapy or complications caused by cancer itself. There are different types of supportive care medications, some of which are presented below:

Anti-Nausea Medications

Anti-nausea medications, developed over the past decades, dramatically changed lives of people undergoing cancer therapy. Nausea and vomiting, which used to be the feared complications of chemotherapy, can now be controlled in a majority of patients by using combinations of different anti-nausea medications and simple modifications to your routine. For more information about coping with nausea and vomiting please see
Side Effects of Systemic Cancer Therapy: Nausea and Vomiting.

Aloxi (Palonosetron)

Anzemet (Dolasetron)

Aprepitant

Ativan ( Lorazepam )

Compazine ( Prochlorperazine )

Decadron ( Dexamethasone)

Dexamethasone

Dolasetron (Anzemet)

Dronabinol

Emend (Aprepitant)

Granisetron

Kytril (Granisetron)

Lorazepam

Marinol ( Dronabinol )

Metoclopramide

Odansetron

Palonosetron

Phenergan ( Promethazine )

Prochlorperazine

Promethazine

Pain Medications

Nobody should suffer pain, and we are here to help. Fighting pain is a team effort, however, and you are the team’s lead member. We need your guidance and feedback to precisely adjust your regimen so that, on one hand, you receive enough medications for comfort, and, on the other hand, do not receive too much. Pain medications could have serious side effects if administered in larger quantities than necessary. We will discuss these matters in more details before supplying you with prescriptions and directions. Remember that, in addition to medications, there are multiple other strategies to fight cancer pain, including palliative radiation therapy, surgery, anesthesia, which we could employ.

Codeine

Dolophine ( Methadone )

Duragesic ( Fentanyl Skin Patches )

Fentanyl Skin Patches

Ketorolac

Methadone

Morphine

MS Contin

Oramorph SR

Oxycodone

OxyContin (Oxycodone)

Roxanol (Morphine)

Roxicodone (Oxycodone)

Toradol ( Ketorolac )

Tramadol

Ultram ( Tramadol )

Growth Factors

Chemotherapy and, to a lesser extent, targeted cancer therapy can lead to decrease in blood cell counts. Decreases in the number of red blood cells and neutrofils, a subtype of white blood cells, could be counteracted by specific growth factors. These growth factors are similar to the ones your body produces to boost blood cell production. For more information, please see Side effects of Systemic cancer therapy, Low Blood Cell Counts.

Aranesp ( Darbepoetin Alfa )

Epogen ( Epoetin Alfa )

Epoetin Alfa

Darbepoetin Alfa

Filgrastim

Leukine ( Sargramostim)

Neulasta ( Pegfilgrastim )

Neupogen (Filgrastim)

Pegfilgrastim

Procrit ( Epoetin Alpha )

Sargramostim

Medications to Strengthen Bone

Bones are often attacked and weakened both by cancer itself and by cancer therapy, especially hormone agents. Bisphosphonates have been proven effective in strengthening bones and decreasing the likelihood of fractures. They were also shown to reduce occurrence and severity of pain due to bone metastases.

ADP Sodium (Pamidronate)

AHPrBP (Pamidronate)

Aledronate

Aredia ( Pamidronate Injection )

Fosamax ( Alendronate )

Ibandronate

Pamidronate

Zolendronic Acid

Zometa (Zolendronic Acid)

Medications used to prevent allergic reactions to therapy

A widely used group of chemotherapy agents known as Taxanes, which includes Taxol and Taxotere, are known to produce allergic reactions in a significant proportion of patients. Patients receiving Taxanes are routinely “pre-medicated” with drugs which decrease the likelihood of this complication. Other groups of medications could also cause allergic reactions, but with less likelihood.

Benadryl ( Diphenhydramine)

Cimetidine

Decadron ( Dexamethasone)

Dexamethasone

Diphenhydramine

Medications used to treat therapy-related diarrhea

Many anti-cancer medications could cause diarrhea (please see Side Effects of Systemic Cancer Therapy: Diarrhea ). It is very important to treat diarrhea promptly because, if unattended, it could lead to serious complications. Please note that treatment of chemotherapy-induced diarrhea requires doses that differ from the instructions provided on the package.

Imodium ( Loperamide )

Loperamide

Octreotide

Sandostatin ( Octreotide )

Medications used to treat chemotherapy-induced nerve damage

Several groups of anti-cancer agents, including Taxanes (Taxol, Taxotere), Platinum compounds (Cisplatin, Oxaliplatin) and Vinca Alcoloids (Vincristine, Vinblastine, Navelbine) have a high propensity to cause nerve damage, or neuropathy (for more information please see Side Effects of systemic Cancer Therapy ). Unfortunately, efficient remedies for prevention and/or treatment of neuropathy are lacking. Medications listed below have been used for this purpose with varying success. Reports on other promising groups of medications have been published, but solid proof of their activity is still lacking.

Gabapentin

Lyrica (Pregabalin)

Neurontin ( Gabapentin )

Nortriptyline

Pregabalin

Medications used to prevent and treat blood clots

Cancer itself predisposes people to blood clots. Some cancers, for example cancers of the pancreas and stomach, are more likely to cause clot formation than other cancer types. Other factors related to cancer and/or its therapy, for example, less active lifestyle, surgical procedures, intravenous catheters, certain anti-cancer agents also play a role in increasing the risk of blood clots. Medications presented below are used to treat and/or prevent blood clot formation.

Coumadin

Dalteparin Sodium

Enoxaparin

Fragmin (Dalteparin Sodium)

Lovenox ( Enoxaparin )

Warfarin