Doxil information and related chemotherapy drugs

Doxil information: from chemocare.com

Doxorubicin is classified as an antitumor antibiotic.  Antitumor antibiotics are made from natural products produced by species of the soil fungus Streptomyces.  These drugs act during multiple phases of the cell cycle and are considered cell-cycle specific. There are several types of antitumor antibiotics:

• Anthracyclines:  Doxorubicin, Daunorubicin, Mitoxantrone, and Idarubicin
• Chromomycins:  Dactinomycin and Plicamycin
• Miscellaneous:  Mitomycin and Bleomycin

Doxorubicin (liposomal) is the drug doxorubicin encapsulated in a STEALTH^®liposome.  Liposomes are closed lipid spheres made of the basic components of natural human cell walls.  The STEALTH^® liposome have on their surface a substance to protect the liposome from detection by the body's immune system and to increase the time this medication is circulating in the blood.  By enclosing a drug in a STEALTH^® liposome, scientists have shown that they are able to get close to the tumor and the encapsulated drug doxorubicin becomes available to work against the tumor cells.

Nanosmart technology delivers drugs through liposomes.  This reduces the toxicity and increases effectiveness by varying the sized of the liposome.