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Article: Drug Resistance
- Article from:
- Gale Encyclopedia of Cancer
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Drug resistance
Definition
Drug resistance refers to the ability of an organism, such as the HIV virus, the tuberculosis bacillus (TB), or cancer, to overcome the effects of a drug prescribed to destroy it. Well-known examples are the resistance of the HIV virus to AZT, or that of TB to
antibiotics
. Resistance
has been observed to occur with every anti-HIV drug prescribed. According to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, drug resistance may have played a role in the 58% rise in infectious disease deaths observed in the United States between 1980 and 1992.
Due to the immunocompromised state of cancer patients caused by the cancer treatment effect, infections with viruses and ...