Cytostatics are pharmaceutical agents that inhibit cell division and growth. They have a damaging effect especially on fast-growing cells with a high metabolic rate. That is why they are used for cancer therapy. Since the active ingredients cannot, of course, know which cells they have to “act against” because they have a damaging effect on the body, they can also affect healthy cells. This leads to the typical side effects known in cancer therapy.
The side effects of all cytostatic drugs are similar: they lead, for example, to gastrointestinal complaints, loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, hair loss, liver damage, increased risk of infection, lowering of the blood cell count. There are chemically and pharmacologically distinct groups of cytostatic drugs, e.g., antibiotics, mitosis inhibitors (block cell division), antimetabolites (inhibit vital metabolic processes), and certain antibiotics; more broadly, hormones, e.g., estrogens in prostate cancer and androgens in breast cancer.
