Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to kill bacteria, viruses, fungi, and cancer cells. Most commonly, the term is used to refer to cancer-killing drugs.Its Alternative names are Cancer chemotherapy; Cancer drug therapy; Cytotoxic chemotherapy…
Description:

Chemotherapy drugs can be given by mouth or injection. Because the medicines travel through the blood stream to the entire body, chemotherapy is considered a body-wide (systemic) treatment.

Chemotherapy may be used to:

* Cure the cancer
* Keep the cancer from spreading
* Ease symptoms (when the cancer cannot be cured)

Chemotherapy medicines usually target cells that quickly divide. However, normal cells — including those found in the blood, hair, and the lining of the gastrointestinal tract — also divide very quickly. That means chemotherapy can also damage or kill these healthy cells. When this occurs, side effects such as nausea,anemia, and hair loss can occur. Some persons who receive chemotherapy also have fatigue, nerve pain, and infection.

Side effects of chemotherapy depend on many things, including the type of cancer and specific drugs being used. Newer chemotherapy drugs that better target cancer cells may cause fewer side effects.

via:healthline.com

Mesothelioma chemotherapy is the treatment of malignant mesothelioma through the use of anticancer drugs. Mesothelioma treatments are divided into two categories; traditional mesothelioma treatments and new mesothelioma treatments. Chemotherapy falls into both categories. It has been used traditionally in the treatment of malignant mesothelioma and a variety of other cancers for decades. Mesothelioma research, as of late, has focused heavily on the development and implementation of new chemotherapy drugs that are based on a greater understanding of how mesothelioma metastasizes (spreads to other organs)….

Alimta

Alimta is the brand name for pemetrexed, a folate antimetabolites chemotherapy drug that is chemically similar to folic acid. Alimta is one of several newly developed chemotherapy drugs being tested for the treatment of mesothelioma. As a single agent, Alimta is used for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancers whose growth has not been slowed by traditional chemotherapy treatments. When Alimta is used in conjunction with cisplatin, it is the only Food and Drug Administration approved agent designated for specific use in combating malignant pleural mesothelioma. Learn more about Alimta.

Alimta prevents cellular growth by inhibiting three enzymes (thymidylate synthase, dihydrofolate reductase and glycinamide ribonucleotide formyl transferase) that are essential in the body’s formation of DNA and RNA.