Chemotherapeutic drugs can cause

Many therapeutic drugs can cause cell or tissue injury in a susceptible patient or if used excessively or inappropriately.Radiation, cytotoxic anticancer drugs, extremes of temperature, and even hypoxia can damage DNA, either directly or through the production of free radicals. If repair mechanisms cannot cope with the injury, the cell triggers intrinsic mechanisms that induce apoptosis.Anoikis is a form of programmed cell death that occurs in anchorage-dependent cells when they detach from the surrounding extracellular matrix (ECM). Usually, cells stay close to the tissue to which they belong since the communication between proximal cells as well as between cells and ECM provide essential signals for growth or survival. When cells are detached from the ECM, there is a loss of normal cell-matrix interactions, and they may undergo anoikis. However, metastatic tumor cells may escape from anoikis and invade other organs.( Robbins Basic Pathology, 9 th edition,)