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How do antitumor agents work?

How do antitumor agents work?

Antitumor antibiotic They act by binding with DNA and preventing RNA (ribonucleic acid) synthesis, a key step in the creation of proteins, which are necessary for cell survival. They are not the same as antibiotics used to treat bacterial infections.

What is the mechanism of action of antimetabolites?

Antimetabolites are called a “cytotoxic” type of drug because they kill cells. They work by mimicking the molecules that a cell needs to grow. Cells are tricked into taking in the drugs and then using the antimetabolites instead of their normal building blocks of genetic material: RNA and DNA.

What is the mechanism of action of alkylating agents for the treatment of cancer?

Most alkylating agents have similar mechanisms of action, but differ in their clinical efficacy. These agents act directly on DNA, resulting in its crosslinking and causing DNA strand breaks, leading to abnormal base pairing and inhibiting cell division, eventually resulting in cell death.

Why is alkylating agents used?

Alkylating agents have found use in the treatment of lymphoma, leukemia, testicular cancer, melanoma, brain cancer, and breast cancer. They are most often used in combination with other anticancer drugs.

What are antimetabolites agents?

Antimetabolites are drugs that interfere with one or more enzymes or their reactions that are necessary for DNA synthesis. They affect DNA synthesis by acting as a substitute to the actual metabolites that would be used in the normal metabolism (for example antifolates interfere with the use of folic acid).

Which is an alkylating agent?

Some examples of alkylating agents are nitrogen mustards (chlorambucil and cyclophosphamide), cisplatin, nitrosoureas (carmustine, lomustine, and semustine), alkylsulfonates (busulfan), ethyleneimines (thiotepa), and triazines (dacarbazine).

Is cisplatin an alkylating agent?

Cisplatin is an anti-cancer (“antineoplastic” or “cytotoxic”) chemotherapy drug. This medication is classified as an “alkylating agent.” (For more detail, see “How Cisplatin Works” section below).

What is the mechanism of alkylating agents?

Mechanism of action of drugs. ​Alkylating agents act by cross-linking strands of DNA, particularly at the N-7 position of guanine. They are nonspecific for cell cycle phase and are thus active during most parts of the cell cycle.

How do alkylating agents work?

Alkylating Agents Alkylating agents are a class of antineoplastic or anticancer drugs which act by inhibiting the transcription of DNA into RNA and thereby stopping the protein synthesis. Alkylating agents substitute alkyl groups for hydrogen atoms on DNA, resulting in the formation of cross links within the DNA chai …

What is the mechanism of cytotoxicity of alkylating agents?

Mechanism of Cytotoxicity. Although the alkylating agents react with a number of biologic molecules, including amino acids, thiols, ribonucleic acid (RNA), and DNA, a number of lines of evidence have led to the generally accepted conclusion that the cytotoxic effects of the agents are a result of reactions with DNA.

How do alkylating agents affect cancer cells?

This action occurs in all cells, but alkylating agents have their primary effect on rapidly dividing cells which do not have time for DNA repair. Cancer cells are among the most affected because they are among the most rapidly dividing cells.

What is the mechanism of resistance to alkylating agents?

Because the cytotoxicity of the alkylating agents appears to be mediated through the alkylation of DNA, the repair of alkylation lesions is an obvious mechanism of resistance to these agents and has been the subject of intense investigation.