Antitumor activity is possessed by antibiotics produced by various actinomycetes. An example is Olivomycin, along with Rufocromomycin, Reumycin, and other agents. Next, we will talk in more detail about antitumor antibiotics and find out what their mechanism of action is.
Mechanism of action
The mechanism of action is the ability to form an irreversible complex with DNA after intracellular activation of antitumor antibiotics, which leads to a decrease in its matrix functions, that is, to disruption of RNA synthesis within tumor cells.
The following features stand out.
- Such medicines differ in that they simultaneously have antimicrobial and antitumor effects.
- A distinctive feature of anticancer antibiotics is also that they can be combined and combined with alkylating anticancer drugs and withincluding antimetabolites.
- The considered drugs have a wide spectrum of antitumor activity.
- The scope of these medical products are all hemoblastoses and true tumors. How anticancer antibiotics work is not clear to everyone.
Cardiotoxicity is a characteristic side effect for this group.
Antibiotics of plant origin
The effect of such antitumor antibiotics is based on the ability of plant alkaloids to block cell mitosis at the metaphase stage. Thus, these drugs have an antimitotic effect. Examples include the following medications.
- Medical remedy "Kolhamin". Due to the fact that this remedy is highly toxic, it is only used externally in the form of an ointment in the presence of skin cancer, when metastases are still absent.
- Drugs "Vinblastine" and "Vincristine". They are used for hemoblastoses, that is, for myelosarcoma and acute leukemia, and in addition, in the presence of true tumors, for example, against the background of breast cancer, uterine chorionepithelioma, etc.
Side effects, just like contraindications for these medicines, are about the same.
Antineoplastic enzyme medicines
L-asparaginase is derived from Escherichia coli. L-asparaginase is able to destroy asparagine, due toThis tumor cells can not synthesize DNA and RNA. Thus, the so-called antitumor effect is achieved.
The main indication for the use of antitumor antibiotics of this series is the presence of acute lymphoblastic leukemia and lymphosarcoma. Contraindications include the presence of diseases of the nervous system along with mental disorders.
Side Effects
Side effects that may be caused by the use of anticancer enzyme drugs include the following manifestations:
- appearance of allergic reactions up to the onset of anaphylactic shock in the patient;
- occurrence of anorexia and weight loss;
- development of depression and hyperglycemia.
Hormonal-based antibiotics
These medicines are used when the patient has a so-called hormone-dependent tumor, which develops against the background of hormonal imbalance in the body. Such drugs can significantly change the ratio of hormones in the human body. Among other things, they can have a specific effect on tumor cells.
What is the purpose of their appointment?
The purpose of prescribing such drugs to patients is usually the following:
- balancing hormone imbalances;
- Providing a cytostatic effect.
As an example of such remedies, it is worth giving the most used of them, namely a medicine called"Phosfestrol". Once in the body under the influence of acid phosphatase, this medicine is converted into diethylstilbestrol, which has a direct cytostatic effect.
Antineoplastic antibiotics: a list of drugs
Let's list the most popular and effective means of this group:
- "Dactinomycin";
- Mitomycin;
- "Daunorubicin";
- "Doxorubicin";
- Idarubicin;
- Karubitsin;
- "Epirubicin";
- Rubomycin;
- Idarubicin.
The first such antibiotic is a medical product called Dactinomycin. This drug was developed back in 1963. Subsequently, thanks to the screening of microbial waste products, a number of effective antitumor chemotherapeutic drugs were discovered. Such drugs are products of various variations of soil fungi or their synthetic derivatives.
At present, among antitumor antibiotics, the following medicines are distinguished by the maximum practical use.
- A group of anthracyclines, namely anthraquinone compounds.
- A drug called Bleomycin, which is related to the phleomycins.
- Dactinomycin drug acting as actinomycin.
- A drug called "Mitomycin", which is a kind of antitumor antibiotic (pictured below), which has an alkylating mechanism of action.
The category of anthracycline antibiotics is one of the most effective anticancer drugs to date. Among them, it is worth noting the drugs Daunorubicin, Doxorubicin, Idarubicin, Carubicin and Epirubicin
The structural basis of antitumor anthracycline drugs is the tetrahydrotetracenquinone chromophore, which consists of three aromatic rings, as well as a six-membered aliphatic circle. As for the chemical characteristics, they differ from each other by substituents in the chromophore, and in addition, by the presence of a sugar residue.
Anthracyclines related to the rubicine series
The most studied, and at the same time effective anticancer drugs, are anthracyclines belonging to the rubicine series.
- The drug "Rubomycin" is a potent drug, after the introduction of which the patient may develop granulocytopenia or thrombocytopenia. In this regard, the introduction of this drug should be carried out exclusively under the control of basic blood parameters. Immediately before the introduction of this drug, the functioning of the liver and heart, as well as the kidneys, is evaluated. After the first injection of the drug, the level of leukocytes in the blood decreases in patients.
- Drug "Idarubicin". The impact, just like the structure of this drug, is close to the drug "Rubomycin". Often practice the use of "Idarubicin" in the presence of acute leukemia. This drug is produced in the form of capsules intended fororal use. A solution for intravenous injection is also produced. The drug "Idarubicin" in the presence of acute leukemia is prescribed to adults in doses that must be calculated by the doctor individually.
- The drug "Doxorubicin" is characterized by high immunosuppressive activity. This medication can have a depressing effect on the hematopoietic system. Due to its high toxicity, it is administered intravenously with great care, because drops of the product on the skin can cause severe necrosis.
Thus, antitumor antibiotics from the list above have repeatedly demonstrated high efficiency in the treatment of almost all malignant tumors, but the effectiveness largely depends on the stage of the disease.
