[Advance in cancer chemotherapy]

From the middle of the 20th Century, many anticancer drugs have been developed, and about 40 kinds of anticancer drugs are currently have been used for cancer treatment. From the past pre-clinical and clinical studies, it was found that combination of two or more drugs was sometimes more effective than the single use, resulting the increase of cure-rates in some-type of human malignancies. Recently, new treatment regimens based on the concept of biochemical modulation have been used for the treatment of cancer of the digestive organs. Also, currently, supportive therapies against the adverse-drug reactions (side effects) became available, and sometimes improvement of QOL of the cancer patients has been expected with the use of these therapies. In facing to the 21st Century, studies of new type of drugs such as those to novel molecular targets have been progressing.