Question

Physical side-effects from chemotherapy and radiotherapy could be maximally reduced by

A) targeting specific tumor cells.
B) reducing amounts of drug or radiation.
C) reducing exposure time.
D) better detection methods.
E) using multiple drugs with radiation.

Answer 1

To reduce the side effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, targeting specific tumor cells is essential, as it improves the therapeutic ratio and minimizes damage to healthy cells.

Step-by-step explanation:

The physical side-effects from chemotherapy and radiotherapy could be maximally reduced by targeting specific tumor cells. Both chemotherapy and radiotherapy are approaches employed in cancer treatment; however, these therapies often affect not only cancer cells, which proliferate rapidly, but also normal dividing cells. This leads to side effects such as hair loss and nausea. By concentrating the radiation or tailoring drugs to specific cancer cells, the therapeutic ratio—the ratio of cancer cells killed to normal cells affected—can be improved, thereby minimizing harm to healthy tissues.

For radiotherapy, concentrating the dose in the tumor while spreading it out over a large volume of normal tissue can be achieved using precise geometric techniques or advanced accelerator-produced ionising particle beams. On the other hand, chemotherapy benefits from mechanisms that specifically interfere with cell division processes unique to cancer cells, thereby sparing normal, rapidly dividing cells. Employing such targeted therapies results in a reduction of unwanted side effects associated with these cancer treatments.