How chemotherapy works

Chemotherapy works by killing cancer cells. It has different effects on different types of cancer.

How chemotherapy effects dividing cells

Chemotherapy kills cells that are in the process of dividing into 2 new cells. It damages the genes inside the nucleus.

Different chemotherapy drugs will do this in different ways. They might:

• damage the part of the cell's control centre that make it divide

• interrupt the chemical processes involved in cell division

• damage the cells while they're making copies of all their genes before they divide

• damage cells at the point of division

Cancer cells divide much more often than most normal cells. So chemotherapy is much more likely to kill them. Chemotherapy is less likely to damage cells that are at rest, such as most normal cells. 

You might have a combination of different chemotherapy drugs. This includes drugs that damage cells at different stages of cell division. This means there's more chance of killing more cells.