[Chemotherapy cancer treatment during the past sixty years]

Abstract

Although history of cancer chemotherapy is relatively short, its role is expanding. Cancer chemotherapy provides variably effective treatment for the majority of human cancer and curative treatment for some categories of cancer. The role of chemotherapy will expand further and play an even greater role in improving both the survival and quality of life for patients with cancer. This progress has resulted from many scientific efforts, including drug development, pharmacology, preclinical experiment, quantitative criteria for response and series of clinical trials in which the importance of dose schedule, of sequencing chemotherapeutic agents, and particularly of combination chemotherapy was studied. While these progress has been substantial, we still have a long way to go. The current studies in basic tumor biology, clinical innovations, and the interaction between host and tumor provide real progress in the treatment of cancer.