Pentostatin

Chemical compound

L01XX08 (WHO)

CA: ℞-only
UK: POM (Prescription only)
US: WARNING^[1]Rx-only

Pharmacokinetic dataBioavailabilityn/aProtein binding4%MetabolismHepatic, minorElimination half-life2.6 to 16 hours, mean 5.7 hoursIdentifiers

IUPAC name

(R)-3-((2R,4S,5R)-4-hydroxy-5-(hydroxymethyl)tetrahydrofuran-2-yl)-3,6,7,8-tetrahydroimidazo[4,5-d][1,3]diazepin-8-ol

CAS Number

53910-25-1^Y

PubChem CID

439693

IUPHAR/BPS

4805

DrugBank

DB00552^Y

ChemSpider

388759^Y

UNII

395575MZO7

KEGG

D00155^Y

ChEBI

CHEBI:27834

ChEMBL

ChEMBL1580^Y

CompTox Dashboard (EPA)

DTXSID2023436

ECHA InfoCard100.164.991

Chemical and physical dataFormulaC₁₁H₁₆N₄O₄Molar mass268.273 g·mol⁻¹3D model (JSmol)

Interactive image

SMILES

n1c3c(n(c1)[C@@H]2O[C@@H]([C@@H](O)C2)CO)N\C=N/C[C@H]3O

InChI

InChI=1S/C11H16N4O4/c16-3-8-6(17)1-9(19-8)15-5-14-10-7(18)2-12-4-13-11(10)15/h4-9,16-18H,1-3H2,(H,12,13)/t6-,7+,8+,9+/m0/s1^Y
Key:FPVKHBSQESCIEP-JQCXWYLXSA-N^Y

(verify)

Pentostatin (or deoxycoformycin, trade name Nipent, manufactured by SuperGen) is an anticancer chemotherapeutic drug.^[2]

Mechanism

It is classified as a purine analog, which is a type of antimetabolite.

It mimics the nucleoside adenosine and thus inhibits the enzyme adenosine deaminase, interfering with the cell's ability to process DNA.^[3]

Cancer cells generally divide more often than healthy cells; DNA is highly involved in cell division (mitosis) and drugs which target DNA-related processes are therefore more toxic to cancer cells than healthy cells.

Uses

Pentostatin is used to treat hairy cell leukemia.^[4] It is given by intravenous infusion once every two weeks for three to six months.

Additionally, pentostatin has been used to treat steroid-refractory acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease.^[5]

Pentostatin is also used in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients who have relapsed.

References

^ "FDA-sourced list of all drugs with black box warnings (Use Download Full Results and View Query links.)". nctr-crs.fda.gov. FDA. Retrieved 22 Oct 2023.
^ Kay NE, Geyer SM, Call TG, et al. (January 2007). "Combination chemoimmunotherapy with pentostatin, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab shows significant clinical activity with low accompanying toxicity in previously untreated B chronic lymphocytic leukemia". Blood. 109 (2): 405–11. doi:10.1182/blood-2006-07-033274. PMC 1785105. PMID 17008537.
^ Sauter C, Lamanna N, Weiss MA (September 2008). "Pentostatin in chronic lymphocytic leukemia". Expert Opin Drug Metab Toxicol. 4 (9): 1217–22. doi:10.1517/17425255.4.9.1217. PMID 18721115.
^ Cannon T, Mobarek D, Wegge J, Tabbara IA (October 2008). "Hairy cell leukemia: current concepts". Cancer Invest. 26 (8): 860–5. doi:10.1080/07357900801965034. PMID 18798068.
^ Bolaños-Meade J, Jacobsohn DA, Margolis J, Ogden A, Wientjes MG, Byrd JC, Lucas DM, Anders V, Phelps M, Grever MR, Vogelsang GB (April 2005). "Pentostatin in steroid-refractory acute graft-versus-host disease". J Clin Oncol. 23 (12): 2661–8. doi:10.1200/JCO.2005.06.130. PMID 15837980.

Intracellular chemotherapeutic agents / antineoplastic agents (L01)

SPs/MIs
(M phase)

Block microtubule assembly	Vinca alkaloids (Vinblastine^# Vincristine^# Vindesine Vinflunine^§ Vinorelbine^#)
Block microtubule disassembly	Taxanes (Cabazitaxel Docetaxel^# Larotaxel Ortataxel^† Paclitaxel^# Tesetaxel) Epothilones (Ixabepilone)

DNA replication
inhibitor

DNA precursors/
antimetabolites
(S phase)

Folic acid	Dihydrofolate reductase inhibitor (Aminopterin Methotrexate^# Pemetrexed Pralatrexate) Thymidylate synthase inhibitor (Pemetrexed Raltitrexed)
Purine	Adenosine deaminase inhibitor (Pentostatin) Halogenated/ribonucleotide reductase inhibitors (Cladribine Clofarabine Fludarabine) Nelarabine Thiopurine (Mercaptopurine^# Tioguanine^#)
Pyrimidine	Thymidylate synthase inhibitor (Capecitabine^# Carmofur Doxifluridine Floxuridine Fluorouracil^# Tegafur (+gimeracil/oteracil)) DNA polymerase inhibitor (Cytarabine^# +daunorubicin) Ribonucleotide reductase inhibitor (Gemcitabine^#) Hypomethylating agent (Azacitidine Decitabine)
Deoxyribonucleotide	Ribonucleotide reductase inhibitor (Hydroxycarbamide^#)

Topoisomerase inhibitors
(S phase)

I	Camptotheca (Belotecan Camptothecin Cositecan^† Etirinotecan pegol^† Exatecan Gimatecan Irinotecan^# Lurtotecan^‡ Rubitecan^‡ Silatecan^§ Topotecan)
II	Podophyllum (Etoposide^# Teniposide)
II+Intercalation	Anthracyclines (Aclarubicin Amrubicin^† Daunorubicin^# (+cytarabine) Doxorubicin^# Epirubicin Idarubicin Pirarubicin Valrubicin Zorubicin) Anthracenediones (Mitoxantrone Losoxantrone Pixantrone) Amsacrine Bisantrene Crisnatol Menogaril^§

Crosslinking of DNA
(CCNS)

Alkylating	Nitrogen mustards: Bendamustine^# Chlormethine Cyclophosphamide^# (Ifosfamide^# Trofosfamide) Chlorambucil^# Melphalan (Melphalan flufenamide) Prednimustine Uramustine Nitrosoureas: Carmustine Fotemustine Lomustine (Semustine) Nimustine Ranimustine Streptozocin Alkyl sulfonates: Busulfan (Mannosulfan Treosulfan) Aziridines: Carboquone Thiotepa Triaziquone Triethylenemelamine
Platinum-based	Carboplatin^# Cisplatin^# Dicycloplatin Nedaplatin Oxaliplatin^# Satraplatin
Nonclassical	Altretamine Hydrazines (Procarbazine^#) Etoglucid Mitobronitol Pipobroman Triazenes (Dacarbazine^# Mitozolomide^§ Temozolomide)
Intercalation	Streptomyces (Dactinomycin^# Bleomycin^# Mitomycins Plicamycin)

Photosensitizers/PDT

Other

Enzyme inhibitors	FI (Tipifarnib^§) CDK inhibitors (Abemaciclib Alvocidib^† Palbociclib Ribociclib Seliciclib^†) PrI Bortezomib Carfilzomib Oprozomib Ixazomib PhI (Anagrelide) IMPDI (Tiazofurin^§) LI (Masoprocol) PARP inhibitor (Fuzuloparib) Niraparib +abiraterone acetate Olaparib Rucaparib) HDAC (Belinostat Entinostat Panobinostat Romidepsin Vorinostat) PIKI (Pi3K) (Alpelisib Copanlisib Duvelisib Idelalisib Umbralisib^‡)
Receptor antagonists	ERA (Atrasentan) Retinoid X receptor (Bexarotene) Sex steroid (Testolactone)
Other/ungrouped	Adagrasib Aflibercept Arsenic trioxide Asparagine depleters (Asparaginase^#/Pegaspargase) Axicabtagene ciloleucel Belzutifan Bexarotene Brexucabtagene autoleucel Celecoxib Ciltacabtagene autoleucel Demecolcine Denileukin diftitox Elesclomol^§ Elsamitrucin Enasidenib Epacadostat Eribulin Estramustine phosphate Glasdegib Idecabtagene vicleucel Ivosidenib Lifileucel Lonidamine Lucanthone Lurbinectedin Mitoguazone Mitotane Oblimersen^† Omacetaxine mepesuccinate Plitidepsin Retinoids (Alitretinoin Tretinoin^#) Selinexor Sitimagene ceradenovec Sotorasib Tagraxofusp Talimogene laherparepvec Tazemetostat Tebentafusp Tiazofurine Tigilanol tiglate Tisagenlecleucel Trabectedin Veliparib Venetoclax Verdinexor Vosaroxin