Daunorubicin

Daunorubicin or daunomycin (daunomycin cerubidine) is chemotherapy of the anthracycline family that is given as a treatment for some types of cancer. It is most commonly used to treat specific types of leukaemia (acute myeloid leukemia and acute lymphocytic leukemia). It was initially isolated from Streptomyces peucetius. more...

Uses

It slows or stops the growth of cancer cells in the body. Treatment is usually together with other chemotherapy drugs (such as cytarabine), and its administration depends on the type of tumor and the degree of response.

In addition to its major use in treating AML, daunorubicin is also used to treat neuroblastoma. Daunorubicin has been used with other chemotherapy agents to treat the blastic phase of chronic myelogenous leukemia.

Mode of action

On binding to DNA, daunomycin intercalates, with its duanosamine residue directed toward the minor groove. It has the highest preference for two adjacent G/C base pairs flanked on the 5' side by an A/T base pair. Daunomycin effectively binds to every 3 base pairs and induces an local unwinding angle of 11^o, but negligible distortion of helical conformation.

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