Table 1.

Common classes of anticancer drugs

Classification	Mechanism of action	Type of drug	Examples of drugs	Cancer type	Ref.
Alkylating agents	Add alkyl groups to guanine on DNA; create cross links within the DNA	Platinum-based agents	Cisplatin Carboplatin Oxaliplatin	Breast, Leukemia, Lymphoma, Multiple Myeloma, Sarcoma, Brain Cancer, Ovary, Lung	[8-10]
		Nitrogen mustards	Chlorambucil Cyclophosphamide
		Alkylsulfonates	Busulfan
Antimetabolites	Interfere with vital metabolic pathways by acting as a false substrate during cell cycle synthesis phase	Pyrimidine antagonists	5-Fluorouracil Gemcitabine	Leukemia, Breast, Ovary, Intestinal Tract, Pancreatic, Colorectal	[11-14]
		Purine antagonists	Fludarabine
		Purine analogs	6-Mercaptopurine
		antifolates	Methotrexate
		Ribonucleotide reductase inhibitors	Hydroxyurea
Mitotic spindle inhibitors	Inhibit microtubule polymerization causing disruption of mitotic spindle formation	Taxanes	Paclitaxel Docetaxel	ALL, Burkitt lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, Neuroblastoma, Rhabdomyosarcoma, Wilms tumor, NSCLC, Ovarian, Head and neck	[14,15]
		Vinca alkaloids	Vincristine Vinblastine
Topoisomerase inhibitors	Prevents resealing of DNA breaks	Topoisomerase inhibitors I and II	Topotecan Etoposide	Leukemia, Lung, ovarian, gastrointestinal, and other cancers	[14,16]
anti-tumor antibiotics	Different mechanisms (free radical formation, lipid peroxidation, direct membrane effects, and enzyme interactions)	Anthracyclines	Doxorubicin	ALL, AML, Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Bladder, Breast, Metastatic cancers, Esophageal	[14,17,18]
			Daunorubicin
Tyrosine kinase inhibitors	Blocks the action of tyrosine kinases	Small molecules inhibitors	Erlotinib Lapatinib Ripretinib	Breast, CML, NSCLC, Lung, Renal, Hepatocellular, Prostate, Renal, Colorectal, ALL, GIST	[19-22]

Abbreviations: ALL: acute lymphocytic leukemia, AML: acute myeloid leukemia, CML: chronic myelogenous leukemia, NSCLC: non-small-cell lung carcinoma, GIST: gastrointestinal stromal tumors