Topotecan,Topotecan
How does the medicine work?
Topotecan interferes with the function of an enzyme (called
topoisomerase I) used by cells to repair breaks in the DNA (the
machinery or “brain” that runs each cell) strand. When this happens,
the DNA strand breaks further and cannot be repaired resulting in
cell death. Topotecan is not able to discriminate between good cells
and cancer cells, so it can affect many parts of your body besides
the cancer. Since non-cancer cells are better than the cancer cells
at detecting and repairing the damage caused by topotecan, the
cancer cells die and your normal cells repair the damage so they
can resume their normal function. The side effects you experience
from topotecan are a result of this damage prior to your healthy cells
having a chance to repair themselves.
