Antimicrobial chemotherapy uses special antibiotic or antimicrobials that kills and stops the growth of bacteria or cancer cells. Antimicrobial chemotherapy is a very common therapy and it is mostly used with other therapies. It is a major part of cancer treatment as there is a chance that it will kill the cancer cells or at least, stop the growth so the cancer remains at a stable stage.
There are two types of antimicrobial drugs; bacteriostatic and bactericidal. The bacteriostatic drugs stop the growth of cancer cells while the bactericidal drugs kill the cancer cells. Even though, this therapy is very common but the chances are very rare that the cancer is treated with them. Sometimes, this therapy only leads to a prolonged period of remission.
The anti microbial drugs that are used in chemotherapy are penicillin, streptomycin and amino glycosides. These drugs are the bactericidal drugs. The bacteriostatic drugs are the sulfonamides, tetracycline and chloramphenicol.
The problem with antimicrobial chemotherapy is that, with increased use of antimicrobials the resistance to antibiotics increase and the antibiotics are no longer effective. This is a common problem and this is the reason why this treatment is not effective for chemotherapy for treating cancer. When the patients are given the antibiotics for a long time, the caner cells become used to it and the resistance increases. Therefore, the antimicrobials cannot kill or stop the growth of such cells.
This treatment is only effective in the beginning of the cancer disease. As the cancer grows and as the patient tales more antimicrobials, the resistance to these decrease and they no longer remain effective.
There are also certain side effects that are caused by antimicrobials. These side effects include overgrowth of pathogens, depression of intestinal symbiotes, ophthalmic toxicity, etc. therefore, antimicrobials should not be used unless there is no other way of treating the disease. These side effects are especially caused when the patient uses them for a prolonged period of time.
For treating cancer, all oncologists prescribe this therapy method to try to stop the growth of cancer. Although there are minimal chances of treating cancer with only this method, it is worth a try. With other therapy methods like bone marrow transplant, it sometimes treats the cancer patient.