The Effect On Dividing Cancer Cells
In cancer cells, the cells continue to divide until there is a mass of cells. The aberrant division of cancer cells results in the formation of a mass known as a tumor. As cancer cells tend to divide more rapidly than most normal cells, chemotherapy medications have a greater chance of killing cancer cells. Certain medications eliminate cancer cells by destroying the control centers of individual cancer cells, thereby preventing their division. While other chemotherapy drugs may interfere with the chemical mechanisms involved in cell division, doxorubicin does not.
Chemotherapy destroys dividing cancer cells. The nucleus is the control center in each living cell, located at the center of the cell and containing materials that assist in cell division. The genetic material, chromosomes, in the nucleus contains genes that, upon duplication, divide a cell into two to create new cells. These genes inside the nucleus of cancer cells are eradicated by chemotherapy. Some chemotherapy medications may harm cells during the division phase, whereas others may kill cells during gene duplication prior to division.
