Aminophenazone is a phenyl-pyrazolone derivative with potent analgesic and antipyretic properties. Aminophenazone has been used as salt or complexes, including topically as the salicylate. It was recommended for the treatment of a fever, neuralgia, myositis, acute rheumatism, arthritis, chorea. In 1999 the FDA suspended aminophenazone. The drug caused agranulocytosis. Some of the cases of agranulocytosis were fatal. Another reason for suspending this drug from the market was its ability to react with nitrite-containing food, thus forming carcinogenic nitrosamines. A breath test with 13C-labeled aminopyrine has been used as a non-invasive measure of cytochrome P-450 metabolic activity in liver function tests.

Icotinib is an orally available quinazoline-based inhibitor of epidermal growth factor receptor. It selectively inhibits the wild-type and several mutated forms of EGFR tyrosine kinase. The major organ of icotinib metabolism is the liver, with the primarily enzymes being CYP2C19 and CYP3A4 from the cytochrome P450 monooxygenase system. Icotinib Hydrochloride was approved for the treatment of patients with advanced stage Nonsmall cell lung cancer by the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) of China. The major drug related adverse reactions of the traditional cytotoxic agents include rash, diarrhea, severe bone marrow suppression, neuropathy, hair loss, and gastrointestinal reactions. Icotinib is under investigation as an active agent against other EGFR mutation-positive cancers, like lung adenocarcinoma, oesophageal cancer, nasopharyngeal cancer and others.

Paclitaxel is a mitotic inhibitor used in cancer chemotherapy. It was discovered in a US National Cancer Institute program at the Research Triangle Institute in 1967 when Monroe E. Wall and Mansukh C. Wani isolated it from the bark of the Pacific yew tree, Taxus brevifolia and named it taxol. Later it was discovered that endophytic fungi in the bark synthesize paclitaxel. When it was developed commercially by Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), the generic name was changed to paclitaxel and the BMS compound is sold under the trademark Taxol. In this formulation, paclitaxel is dissolved in Kolliphor EL and ethanol, as a delivery agent. Taxol is marketed for the treatment of Breast cancer; Gastric cancer; Kaposi's sarcoma; Non-small cell lung cancer; Ovarian cancer. A newer formulation, in which paclitaxel is bound to albumin, is sold under the trademark Abraxane. Paclitaxel is a taxoid antineoplastic agent indicated as first-line and subsequent therapy for the treatment of advanced carcinoma of the ovary, and other various cancers including breast cancer. Paclitaxel is a novel antimicrotubule agent that promotes the assembly of microtubules from tubulin dimers and stabilizes microtubules by preventing depolymerization. This stability results in the inhibition of the normal dynamic reorganization of the microtubule network that is essential for vital interphase and mitotic cellular functions. In addition, paclitaxel induces abnormal arrays or "bundles" of microtubules throughout the cell cycle and multiple asters of microtubules during mitosis. Used in the treatment of Kaposi's sarcoma and cancer of the lung, ovarian, and breast. Abraxane® is specfically indicated for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer and locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. Paclitaxel interferes with the normal function of microtubule growth. Whereas drugs like colchicine cause the depolymerization of microtubules in vivo, paclitaxel arrests their function by having the opposite effect; it hyper-stabilizes their structure. This destroys the cell's ability to use its cytoskeleton in a flexible manner. Specifically, paclitaxel binds to the β subunit of tubulin. Tubulin is the "building block" of mictotubules, and the binding of paclitaxel locks these building blocks in place. The resulting microtubule/paclitaxel complex does not have the ability to disassemble. This adversely affects cell function because the shortening and lengthening of microtubules (termed dynamic instability) is necessary for their function as a transportation highway for the cell. Chromosomes, for example, rely upon this property of microtubules during mitosis. Further research has indicated that paclitaxel induces programmed cell death (apoptosis) in cancer cells by binding to an apoptosis stopping protein called Bcl-2 (B-cell leukemia 2) and thus arresting its function.