How does chemotherapy kill cancer cells?

Most chemo drugs are given in one of these ways: Sometimes chemo is a pill or liquid. You just swallow it. read more

Because cancer cells divide much more often than most normal cells, chemotherapy is much more likely to kill them. Some drugs kill dividing cells by damaging the part of the cell's control centre that makes it divide. Other drugs interrupt the chemical processes involved in cell division. read more

Chemo kills cells that grow fast, like cancer cells. It can affect normal cells that grow fast, too, like the cells that make hair or blood. read more

In cancer, the cells keep on dividing until there is a mass of cells. This mass of cells becomes a lump, called a tumour. Because cancer cells divide much more often than most normal cells, chemotherapy is much more likely to kill them. Some drugs kill dividing cells by damaging the part of the cell's control centre that makes it divide. read more

The ability of chemotherapy to kill cancer cells depends on its ability to halt cell division. Usually, cancer drugs work by damaging the RNA or DNA that tells the cell how to copy itself in division. If the cancer cells are unable to divide, they die. read more

The faster that cancer cells divide, the more likely it is that chemotherapy will kill the cells, causing the tumor to shrink. They also induce cell suicide (self-death or apoptosis). Chemotherapy drugs that kill cancer cells only when they are dividing are called cell-cycle specific. read more