MANAGEMENT OF CHEMOTHERAPY-INDUCED TOXICITY: EMERGING AND NOVEL THERAPEUTIC APPROACHES – A REVIEW

Savidhan Sudarshan Kamble*, Shaikh Sadiya Hamid, Manthan B. Mirkale, Akshay Anand Gupta, Dr. Prajakta Kelgaonkar

Chemotherapy remains an important component of cancer treatment, but its benefits may be limited by adverse effects on normal tissues. Because many cytotoxic medicines interfere with processes that are also active in healthy, rapidly renewing cells, patients can develop hematological, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, neurological, renal, hepatic, dermatological and reproductive complications. The severity of these effects differs between patients and may be influenced by the drug, dose, cumulative exposure, organ function, co-morbidities, concomitant medicines and inherited differences in drug handling. Toxicity can reduce quality of life and may lead to dose modification, treatment delay, hospitalization or discontinuation. Conventional management therefore emphasizes prevention, early recognition, monitoring and supportive care. At the same time, oncology is increasingly exploring approaches that may predict toxicity or selectively protect normal tissues before serious injury develops. Pharmacogenomics, targeted drug delivery, nanotechnology, cytoprotective agents, immunotherapy, microbiome-based strategies, stem-cell support and artificial intelligence are among the emerging areas of interest. This review discusses the mechanisms, major clinical manifestations, risk factors, prevention and management of chemotherapy-induced toxicity and summarizes selected novel approaches. The contribution of clinical pharmacists to medication review, adverse-drug-reaction monitoring, interaction assessment, supportive-care optimization and patient counselling is also discussed.[1–4]