Topotecan

Topotecan is a chemotherapeutic product that belongs to the antineoplastic agents, substances that inhibit or prevent the decontrolled proliferation of cells. It is a semi-synthetic medicine that is synthetized through camptothecin and has activity in a wide range of tumor types.

Topotecan is used on cancer therapy because it inhibits the topoisomerase I, which controls DNA topology by relieving the strain in DNA supercoils during replication, and causes single-strand DNA breaks which inhibit DNA functionality. This process prevents mitosis or leads to cell death by generating double-stranded DNA breaks when DNA replication occurs. Cancer cells divide faster than normal cells, so they are more susceptible to be affected by topotecan.

This medicine´s activity is greatest when administrated continuously over a long period of time, and it has been successfully combined with other antineoplastic agents, such as cisplatin.