Understanding the various causes of cancer has been an ongoing process. Mutations generally occur in the cells DNA makeup, and this causes cancer cells to appear and function differently in comparison to the surrounding normal cells. Cancer cells can be localized to a particular region within the body or they could travel via the bloodstream to other sites in the body, implanting themselves in healthy tissues and developing into new tumors. This is called malignant cancer. These treatment modes can be used individually or in combination with each other.
Chemotherapy uses poisonous drugs to kill cells.
Most chemotherapeutic agents currently in use target the nuclear replicative machinery of cells to prevent them from dividing. Since cancer cells divide at a faster rate as compared to normal cells the anticancer drugs should be more toxic to cancer cells versus normal cells. However, normal cells are not exempt from the toxic effects of the antitumor agents and severe side effects accompany almost all forms of chemotherapy. There is therefore, the need to develop antitumor agents that can selectively kill cancer cells with little or no toxicity towards normal tissue. In this light the glyoxalase I inhibitors represent a novel new class of tumor-selective anticancer agents.