Cytarabine
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Cytarabine
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| Systematic (IUPAC) name | |
| 4-amino-1-[(2R,3S,4R,5R)-3,4-dihydroxy-5- (hydroxymethyl)oxolan-2-yl] pyrimidin-2-one | |
| Identifiers | |
| CAS number | |
| ATC code | L01 |
| PubChem | |
| DrugBank | |
| Chemical data | |
| Formula | C9H13N3O5 |
| Mol. mass | 243.217 g/mol |
| Pharmacokinetic data | |
| Bioavailability | Orally, less than 20% of a dose of cytarabine is absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and is ineffective by this route. Subcutaneously or intramuscularly, tritium-labelled cytarabine produces peak plasma concentrations of radioactivity within 20 to 60 minutes which are considerably lower than those attained after intravenous administration. Continuous intravenous infusions produce relatively constant plasma levels in 8 to 24 hours. |
| Protein binding | 13% |
| Metabolism | Liver |
| Half life | Intravenous doses of cytarabine exhibit a biphasic elimination, with an initial distribution half-life of about ten minutes during which time a major portion of the drug is metabolised in the liver to the inactive metabolite uracil arabinoside. The secondary elimination half-life is longer, approximately one to three hours. Metabolism also occurs in the kidneys, gastrointestinal mucosa, granulocytes and other tissues. |
| Excretion | Cytarabine is mainly excreted via the kidney with 70 to 80% of a dose administered by any route appearing in the urine within 24 hours; approximately 90% as the metabolite and 10% as unchanged drug |
| Therapeutic considerations | |
| Pregnancy cat. |
D (USA); D (Aus) |
| Legal status | |
| Routes | Injectable (intravenous injection or infusion, or subcutaneously) |
Cytarabine, or cytosine arabinoside, is a chemotherapy agent used mainly in the treatment of hematological malignancies such as leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. It is also known as ara C.
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[edit] History
Cytarabine was discovered in Europe in the 1960s. It was approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration in June 1969, and was initially marketed in the US by Upjohn under the trade name Cytosar-U.
[edit] Mechanism
Cytosine arabinoside is an antimetabolic agent with the chemical name of 1β-arabinofuranosylcytosine. Its mode of action is due to its rapid conversion into cytosine arabinoside triphosphosphate, which damages DNA when the cell cycle holds in the S phase (synthesis of DNA). Rapidly dividing cells, which require DNA replication for mitosis, are therefore most affected. Cytosine arabinoside also inhibits both DNA and RNA polymerases and nucleotide reductase enzymes needed for DNA synthesis. Cytarabine is rapidly deaminated in the body into the inactive uracil derivative and therefore is often given by continuous intravenous infusion.
[edit] Clinical uses
Cytarabine is mainly used in the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia, and in lymphomas,[1] where it is the backbone of induction chemotherapy. Cytarabine also possesses antiviral activity, and it has been used for the treatment of generalised herpesvirus infection. However, cytarabine is not very selective in this setting and causes bone marrow suppression and other severe side effects, so it is used mainly for the chemotherapy of hematologic cancers.
One of the unique toxicities of cytarabine is cerebellar toxicity when given in high doses.
Toxicity: Leukopenia, Thrombocytopenia, anemia, GI disturbances, stomatitis, conjunctivitis, pneumonitis, fever, and dermatitis.
Cytarabine is also used in the study of the nervous system to control the proliferation of glial cells in cultures, the amount of glial cells having an important impact on neurons.
[edit] Brand names
- Cytosar-U
- Tarabine PFS
- Depocyt (longer-lasting liposomal formulation)
[edit] External links
- MedlinePlus page on cytarabine
- ADAP drugs page on cytarabine
- BC Cancer network page on cytarabine
- Chembank entry
- Sea to Ara C An essay on the history of cytarabine.
[edit] References
- ^ Pigneux A, Perreau V, Jourdan E, et al (October 2007). "Adding lomustine to idarubicin and cytarabine for induction chemotherapy in older patients with acute myeloid leukemia: the BGMT 95 trial results". Haematologica 92 (10): 1327–34. doi:. PMID 18024370.
- Hobbs J.B. in Comprehensive Medicinal Chemistry Vol. 2: (ed. Sammes, Peter G.) Pergamon Press, 1990
- Männistö P.T., Tuominen R.K. in Farmakologia ja Toksikologia, 5th edition: (ed. Koulu, Tuomisto, Paasonen) Medicina, 1996
- Rang H.P., Dale M.M., Ritter J.M.: Pharmacology, 3rd edition. Pearson Professional Ltd, 1995.
