RT Book, Section A1 Wang, Richard Y. A2 Nelson, Lewis S. A2 Howland, Mary Ann A2 Lewin, Neal A. A2 Smith, Silas W. A2 Goldfrank, Lewis R. A2 Hoffman, Robert S. SR Print(0) ID 1163012176 T1 Chemotherapeutics T2 Goldfrank's Toxicologic Emergencies, 11e YR 2019 FD 2019 PB McGraw-Hill Education PP New York, NY SN 9781259859618 LK accessemergencymedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1163012176 RD 2024/10/07 AB Chemotherapeutics or antineoplastics are a unique class of pharmaceuticals commonly used to kill cancer cells. The conventional chemotherapeutics are also toxic to noncancerous cells in the host, which makes an overdose of these pharmaceuticals a major concern to clinicians. Most overdoses from conventional chemotherapeutics are iatrogenic, and they involve misreading of the product label, and errors in dosing and transcription of orders (Chap. 134). A key element in these incidents is the lack of familiarity of the clinician with the use of these select pharmaceuticals. In the last several years, the use of chemotherapeutics has changed. For example, therapeutic indications now include other diseases, such as autoimmune diseases; the new chemotherapeutics target cancer cells and many of them are administered orally, and new delivery techniques are available. These new developments will increase the number and frequency of unintentional exposures and unintended dosing regimens, although the adoption of safety standards for the administration limits these errors (Chap. 134).24,31