Читать книгу The Cancer Directory - Dr. Daniel Rosy - Страница 124

Because tumour cells are so close in structure and function to normal cells, it is not surprising that any drug that reduces cancer growth also affects normal cells. This means that many cancer drugs have very potent side-effects, and are only prescribed by specialists in the field. Anti-cancer drugs inhibit cell turnover in general and so affect most severely the most rapidly dividing cells in the body. These include those in the bone marrow that form blood cells, and those in the lining of the intestines, skin and hair follicles. A depressed immune system is common with many anti-cancer agents because of their effect on bone marrow. Therefore, when considering your treatment plan and assessing your tolerance levels, you may wish to consider how to offset this effect on immune function by immune stimulation (see Chapters 5 and 7).