Chemotherapy , in its most general sense, refers to treatment of disease by chemicals [ 1 ] that kill cells, specifically those of micro-organisms or cancer . In popular usage, it will usually refer to antineoplastic drugs used to treat cancer or the combination of these drugs into a cytotoxic standardized treatment regimen . more

Chemotherapy , in its most general sense, refers to treatment of disease by chemicals [ 1 ] that kill cells, specifically those of micro-organisms or cancer . In popular usage, it will usually refer to antineoplastic drugs used to treat cancer or the combination of these drugs into a cytotoxic standardized treatment regimen . In its non- oncological use, the term may also refer to antibiotics ( antibacterial chemotherapy ). In that sense, the first modern chemotherapeutic agent was Paul Ehrlich 's arsphenamine , an arsenic compound discovered in 1909 and used to treat syphilis . This was later followed by sulfonamides discovered by Domagk and penicillin discovered by Alexander Fleming . less