Gemcitabine in hematologic malignancies.
Gemcitabine is a pyrimidine analogue that showed significant activity in solid malignancies. Gemcitabine acts by inhibiting DNA synthesis through chain termination and ribonucleotide reductase inhibition. During initial phase I and II studies, gemcitabine had a low toxicity profile and was well tolerated as a single agent and in combination therapy. Recently, there has been more interest in studying the activity of gemcitabine in hematologic malignancies. Gemcitabine demonstrated good activity in refractory Hodgkin disease patients, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, and acute leukemias. There is a preponderance of evidence on the activity of gemcitabine in vitro in myeloma and leukemic cell lines. The activity of gemcitabine in these disorders will pave the way for incorporating this agent into the early phases of therapy.
Nabhan
C
C
Division of Hematology/Oncology, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Illinois 60611, USA. c-nabhan@northwestern.edu
Krett
N
N
Gandhi
V
V
Rosen
S
S
D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004247:DNA / Q000096:biosynthesis; D003841:Deoxycytidine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007938:Leukemia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016410:Lymphoma, T-Cell, Cutaneous / Q000188:drug therapy*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured / Q000473:pathology; D000093542:Gemcitabine
D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic; D003841:Deoxycytidine; D004247:DNA; D000093542:Gemcitabine