Etoposide phosphate

Also Known As: Etoposide phosphate , Vepesid, Etoposide phosphate, Etoposide, Eposin, Etopophos

Etoposide phosphate (brand names: Eposin, Etopophos, Vepesid, VP-16) is an anti-cancer agent. It is known in the laboratory as a topoisomerase inhibitor. It exploits the normal mechanism of action of the enzyme topoisomerase II, which aids in DNA unwinding, and by doing so causes DNA strands to break. Cancer cells rely on this enzyme more than healthy cells, since they divide more rapidly. It is used as a form of chemotherapy for cancers such as Ewing's sarcoma, lung cancer, testicular cancer, lymphoma, non-lymphocytic leukemia, and glioblastoma multiforme. It is often given in combination with other drugs. It is also sometimes used in a conditioning regimen prior to a bone marrow or blood stem cell transplant.

Its chemical make-up derives from podophyllotoxin, a toxin found in the American Mayapple.

The name VP-16 likely comes from a compounding of the last name of the chemists who performed early work on the drug (von Wartburg and von Kuhn) and podophyllotoxin. Another scientist who was integral in the development of podophyllotoxin-based chemotherapeutics was the medical pharmacologist Hartmann F. Stähelin.

Etoposide is used as a form of chemotherapy for cancers such as Kaposi’s sarcoma, Ewing's sarcoma, lung cancer, testicular cancer, lymphoma, nonlymphocytic leukemia, and glioblastoma multiforme. It is often given in combination with other drugs (such as bleomycin in treating testicular cancer). It is also sometimes used in a conditioning regimen prior to a bone marrow or blood stem cell transplant.[1]

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