No, Rydapt it isn’t a chemotherapy drug. But it is used to treat certain types of cancer, including acute myeloid leukemia.
Chemotherapy drugs work by killing cells that grow and divide quickly. This includes cancer cells. But chemotherapy drugs don’t only kill cancer cells. They can also kill other cells that grow and divide quickly, including healthy cells.
This non-specific action of chemotherapy is why some chemotherapy drugs cause many side effects.
Rydapt is a type of targeted therapy called a kinase inhibitor. These drugs work on specific targets in your body.
Rydapt blocks a certain kinase enzyme (a type of protein). This blocking action stops certain cancer cells from growing and spreading.