Chemotherapeutic Agents Can Classify According to the Mechanism of Action

Chemotherapy drugs are classified by mechanism of action into groups such as alkylating agents, antimetabolites, antitumor antibiotics, topoisomerase inhibitors, and mitotic inhibitors. Each group disrupts a different step of DNA replication or cell division.

The main classes are alkylating agents, antimetabolites, antitumor (anthracycline) antibiotics, topoisomerase inhibitors, and mitotic inhibitors such as taxanes and vinca alkaloids, along with some hormone and targeted agents.

It groups chemotherapeutic agents by their mechanism of action and shows where each class acts — on DNA, on nucleotide synthesis, or on the mitotic spindle — and which phase of the cell cycle they affect.

Alkylating agents add alkyl groups to DNA and form crosslinks that prevent the DNA strands from separating, blocking replication and triggering cancer-cell death. They act throughout the cell cycle.

Antimetabolites are drugs that resemble natural nucleotides and other building blocks. By substituting for them, they interfere with DNA and RNA synthesis, mainly affecting cells in the S phase of the cell cycle.

Yes. The figure is fully editable in SciFig — relabel drug classes, targets, and cell-cycle phases, adjust the layout, and export it in publication-ready formats for your manuscript or presentation.