Generally speaking, which is more toxic, antifungal or anticancer drugs?

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Protoman - 12 Dec 2007 02:14 GMT

Generally speaking, which is more toxic, antifungal or anticancer
drugs? I've heard that both can put *quite* a strain on the body. Like
say, doxorubicin vs. amphotericin B.

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Dr. Wayne Simon - 13 Dec 2007 06:46 GMT

> Generally speaking, which is more toxic, antifungal or anticancer
> drugs? I've heard that both can put *quite* a strain on the body. Like
> say, doxorubicin vs. amphotericin B.

Generally speaking, (barring some specific medications) Cancer chemotherapy
drugs are more toxic than antifungal drugs. There may be an exception here
or there, but the answer is fundamental.

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Protoman - 14 Dec 2007 03:36 GMT

On Dec 12, 10:46 pm, "Dr. Wayne Simon" <wayne.si...@comcast.net>
wrote:

> > Generally speaking, which is more toxic, antifungal or anticancer
> > drugs? I've heard that both can put *quite* a strain on the body. Like
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> drugs are more toxic than antifungal drugs. There may be an exception here
> or there, but the answer is fundamental.

I thought so. So, where would they *rank* in toxicity, anticancer
first, then antifungal, then...what?

And what about the specific drugs I named? How do they compare?

Thanks!!!

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mopurist - 14 Dec 2007 17:19 GMT

> And what about the specific drugs I named? How do they compare?
>
> Thanks!!!

You have to elaborate on what you mean by "more toxic."

Strictly speaking:
"All substances are poisons; there is none which is not a poison. The
right dose differentiates a poison from a remedy."(Paracelsus, 1567)

In simplistic terms, toxicity would mean the ability to cause death by
means of an acute exposure. In this case, one would call Amphotericin B
more toxic, since its LD50 in mice is only 4mg/kg i.v., while the LD50 in
mice for doxorubicin is 21mg/kg i.v. (per The Merck Index, 12th ed.).

(In case you didn't know, LD50 is the dose that results in at least 50%
of the test subjects dying--Lethal Dose 50%.)

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