Chemo, Targeted Therapy, Immunotherapy

Educational orientation

Source-checked: 2026-06-05. This page explains therapy classes; it does not compare options for a person.

Core Idea

Systemic therapies move through the body. Chemotherapy usually targets fast-dividing cells or cell-division machinery. Targeted therapy aims at specific molecular dependencies. Immunotherapy attempts to help immune mechanisms recognize or attack cancer. Hormone therapy affects hormone-driven cancers. Cellular therapies modify or use living immune cells.

These categories overlap in practice, and each contains many different drugs with different indications and toxicities.

Essential Vocabulary

• Cytotoxic: directly damaging or killing cells.
• Targeted therapy: designed around a molecular target.
• Checkpoint inhibitor: immunotherapy affecting immune brakes.
• Endocrine therapy: hormone-pathway therapy.

What This Does Not Mean

"Targeted" does not mean harmless, and "immunotherapy" does not mean universally effective.

Builder/Data Lens

Drug names, combinations, indication, biomarker context, and line of therapy matter more than broad class labels.

Go Deeper

• Biologics 101
• Immuno basics and checkpoints
• Therapy evidence tracker

References

1. National Cancer Institute. Chemotherapy to Treat Cancer
2. National Cancer Institute. Targeted Therapy for Cancer
3. National Cancer Institute. Immunotherapy for Cancer