| Antimetabolites |
5-Fluorouracil |
Analog of pyrimidine nucleoside |
Perturbation of RNA and DNA synthesis |
Colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer |
| |
Gemcitabine |
|
|
Non-small cell lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, bladder cancer, breast cancer |
| |
Methotrexate |
Inhibits dihydrofolate reductase |
Reduction of folates required for DNA synthesis |
Breast, head and neck, leukemia, lymphoma, lung, osteosarcoma, bladder and trophoblastic neoplasms |
| Alkylating agents |
Cyclophosphamide |
Adds an alkyl group to DNA |
Inhibition of DNA replication |
Lymphomas, leukemias, brain tumors |
| |
Dacarbazine |
|
|
Metastatic melanoma, Hodgkin's lymphoma |
| |
Melphalan |
|
|
Multiple myeloma, ovarian cancer, malignant melanoma |
| Anthracyclines |
Doxorubicin |
Intercalates base pairs of nucleic acids |
Inhibition of RNA and DNA synthesis |
Leukemias, Hodgkin's lymphoma, bladder cancer, breast, stomach, lung, ovaries, thyroid, soft-tissue sarcoma, multiple myeloma |
| Antimicrotubule agents |
Vinblastine |
Binds tubulin, thereby inhibiting the assembly of microtubules |
M-phase-specific cell cycle arrest by disrupting microtubule assembly |
Hodgkin's lymphoma, non-small cell lung cancer, breast cancer, head and neck cancer, and testicular cancer |
| Platinum compounds |
Cisplatin |
Crosslinks DNA strands |
Inhibition of DNA replication and transcription |
Head and neck, lung and ovarian carcinomas, lymphomas, germ cell tumors |
| |
Oxaliplatin |
|
|
Colorectal cancer |
| Taxanes |
Paclitaxel |
Stabilizes GDP-bound tubulin in microtubules |
Inhibition of mitosis |
Lung, ovarian, breast, head and neck cancer, advanced forms of Kaposi's sarcoma |
| |
Docetaxel |
|
|
Breast, ovarian, prostate and non-small cell lung cancer |
| Topoisomerase inhibitors |
Irinotecan |
Interferes with type I topoisomerases inducing DNA strands breaks |
Cell cycle arrest and apoptosis |
Colorectal cancer |
| |
Etoposide phosphate |
Interferes with type II topoisomerases inducing DNA strands breaks |
|
Kaposi's and Ewing's sarcomas, certain leukemias, lung, ovarian, gastrointestinal cancers, glioblastoma multiforme |
| |
Mitoxantrone |
|
|
Metastatic breast cancer, acute myeloid leukemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma |
