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Organs or tissues
most susceptible have high cell proliferation rates and include skin, bone
marrow, gastrointestinal mucosa, liver and testes. The least susceptible
organs and tissues replicate very slowly or not at all and include muscle
cells, neurons and connective tissue. However, neural
damage may be caused by commonly used chemotherapeutic drugs such as
methotrexate, vinca alkaloids and cytosine arabinoside; bone injury may be
caused by methotrexate; and cardiac sequelae can occur after treatment with
adriamycin (36). Injuries in tissues or organs with low repair potential may
be permanent or long lasting. Risk of late death from causes other than
recurrence is greatest among survivors treated with a combination of
chemotherapy and radiotherapy (13).
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