Pharmacology of oral chemotherapy agents.

The abundance of orally formulated chemotherapy agents reflects the expanding role of oral chemotherapy in the care of patients with cancer. Many oral chemotherapy agents have been used for a number of years, and several have been developed recently. Newer agents include the prodrugs capecitabine and temozolomide, the retinoid bexarotene, the immunomodulatory agent thalidomide, the protein kinase inhibitor imatinib, and the epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors gefitinib and erlotinib. Each agent has unique pharmacologic properties, dosing, and side-effect profiles. This article reviews these agents from a pharmacology perspective.