This is a real-world medical entrance exam question, please give the true answer based on the question and selection. Topic name: Neoplasia, Subject name: Pathology
Chemotherapeutic drugs can cause: 
Select and explain. 
A. Only necrosis, B. Only apoptosis, C. Both necrosis and apoptosis, D. Anoikis
C: Both necrosis and apoptosis
Answer: C: Both necrosis and apoptosis 
Explanation: Ans. is 'c' i.e., Both necrosis and apoptosis Chemotherapeutic drugs can cause both necrosis and apoptosis, but it is apoptosis which is the basis of action of chemotherapeutic drugs.Apoptosis is a process by which single cell are removed from the midst of living tissue by fragmentation into membrane bound particles and phagocytosed by other cells without disturbing its architecture or function or eliciting an inflammatory response (therefore known as programmed cell death).Though it is clearly written in Harrison that chemotherapeutic drugs can cause apoptosis and necrosis but its not clear whether necrosis has any role to play in therapeutic action.Also knowNecrosis - refers to cell death induced for example, by physical damage with the hallmark of cell swelling and membrane disruptionAnakusis - refers to death of epithelial cells after removal from the normal milieu of substrate, particularly from cell to cell contact.