Gemcitabine

Pronunciation

Definition 1

The active ingredient in a drug that is used to treat pancreatic cancer that is advanced or has spread. It is also used with other drugs to treat breast cancer that has spread, advanced ovarian cancer, and non-small cell lung cancer that is advanced or has spread. It is also being studied in the treatment of other types of cancer. Gemcitabine blocks the cell from making DNA and may kill cancer cells. It is a type of antimetabolite (NCI Dictionary)

Definition 2

A broad-spectrum antimetabolite and deoxycytidine analogue with antineoplastic activity. Upon administration, gemcitabine is converted into the active metabolites difluorodeoxycytidine diphosphate (dFdCDP) and difluorodeoxycytidine triphosphate (dFdCTP) by deoxycytidine kinase. dFdCTP competes with deoxycytidine triphosphate (dCTP) and is incorporated into DNA. This locks DNA polymerase thereby resulting in "masked termination" during DNA replication. On the other hand, dFdCDP inhibits ribonucleotide reductase, thereby decreasing the deoxynucleotide pool available for DNA synthesis. The reduction in the intracellular concentration of dCTP potentiates the incorporation of dFdCTP into DNA. (NCI Thesaurus)

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