What is gemcitabine mechanism of action?
The most important mechanism of action of gemcitabine is inhibition of DNA synthesis (Huang et al., 1991). When dFdCTP is incorporated into DNA, a single deoxynucleotide is incorporated afterwards, preventing chain elongation (Gandhi et al., 1996).
Is gemcitabine cell cycle specific?
Gemcitabine belongs to the family of drugs called antimetabolites. Antimetabolites are very similar to normal substances within the cell. When the cells incorporate these substances into the cellular metabolism, they are unable to divide. Antimetabolites are cell-cycle specific.
How is gemcitabine administered for pancreatic cancer?
Gemcitabine and capecitabine (GemCap) You will have an infusion of gemcitabine for 30 minutes, and you will have this once a week for three weeks. Capecitabine is taken as tablets, which you will take twice a day for the 3 weeks.
Is gemcitabine effective for pancreatic cancer after progression to Folfirinox?
Our small retrospective study suggests that gemcitabine is a reasonable treatment option as second-line therapy in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer who progress on FOLFIRINOX.
How is gemcitabine metabolized?
Gemcitabine is metabolized intracellularly by nucleoside kinases to the active diphosphate (dFdCDP) and triphosphate (dFdCTP) nucleosides. The cytotoxic effect of gemcitabine is attributed to a combination of two actions of the diphosphate and the triphosphate nucleosides, which leads to inhibition of DNA synthesis.
How does gemcitabine inhibit DNA synthesis?
Gemcitabine inhibits DNA synthesis by intracellular conversion by deoxycytidine kinase to the active diphosphate (dFdCDP) and triphosphate (dFdCTP) nucleosides that lead to competitive inhibition of DNA polymerase.
How quickly does gemcitabine work?
How you have gemcitabine. You have gemcitabine into your bloodstream. It takes about 30 minutes.
How effective is gemcitabine?
Treatment with single-agent gemcitabine achieved clinical benefit and symptoms improvement in 20-30% of patients. While 1-year survival was observed in 2% of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-treated patients, it was raised to 18% by single-agent gemcitabine.
How long does gemcitabine work on pancreatic cancer?
Improvement of efficacy is, however, expected from combination treatment. Gemcitabine and cisplatin given as first-line treatment in three studies achieved a median survival of 7.4-8.3 months. One-year survival was raised to 28% as reported in one study.
How long does it take for gemcitabine to work?
Is gemcitabine a prodrug?
Gemcitabine is a synthetic pyrimidine nucleoside prodrug—a nucleoside analog in which the hydrogen atoms on the 2′ carbon of deoxycytidine are replaced by fluorine atoms.
What is the mechanism of action of oxaliplatin?
Oxaliplatin selectively inhibits the synthesis of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). The guanine and cytosine content correlates with the degree of Oxaliplatin-induced cross-linking. At high concentrations of the drug, cellular RNA and protein synthesis are also suppressed.