Main use Active ingredient Manufacturer
Hairy cell leukaemia Pentostatin Lederle

How does it work?
Pentostatin is an anticancer (cytotoxic) medicine.Cancers form when some cells within the body multiply uncontrollably and abnormally. There are two types of cancer. Solid cancers where a lump forms e.g. the bone, muscle, brain cells etc. divide and multiply abnormally. The second type are leukaemias and lymphomas where the blood cells divide and multiply abnormally.Other characteristics of cancer besides uncontrolled growth include the ability of these abnormal cells to invade other tissues next to them or to break away from the original site, travel through the blood or lymph, and establish a new cancer at a different site of the body. These are called metastases.Like normal healthy cells, cancer cells go through a continuous process of change. Each cell divides into two daughter cells. These cells grow, rest and then divide again. The medicines used in chemotherapy are powerful chemicals designed to interupt this cycle and stop cells from growing.Several different types of anticancer medicines are used in chemotherapy. Each type kills cells at a different stage of the cell's life cycle. Each does its job in a different way.Pentostatin is a type of anticancer medicine known as an antimetabolite. This type of medicine attacks cells during the process of division, when they are easily killed. The antimetabolites imitate normal cell nutrients. As the medicine resembles a nutrient that the cancer cell needs, it consumes the medicine thinking it is getting a good meal. However once in the cell pentostatin blocks an enzyme called adenosine deaminase which is involved in the production of new genetic material (DNA). By blocking this process the cell starves to death.Unfortunately, anticancer medicines will also affect the growth and division of normal, healthy cells in the same way, such as blood, gut and hair cells. This can therefore cause several of the side effects seen with chemotherapy e.g. hair loss. The body's immune system also becomes suppressed increasing the risk of infections.In most chemotherapy regimens, doses are administered in courses at various intervals to allow normal cells to recover from the adverse effects of the anticancer medicines between doses. However, during this period, cancer cells will also recover and start to replicate again. Successful treatment depends on the administration of the next course of therapy before the cancer has regrown to its previous size and the net effect is to decrease the amount of cancer with each successive course.Pentostatin is administered by intravenous injection or infusion only.

What is it used for?
Rare form of bone marrow cancer found mainly in young men (hairy cell leukaemia)
Warning!
People taking this medicine should have regular blood tests to monitor their kidney and liver function.
People taking this medicine should have regular blood tests to check the levels of their blood components.
Men should avoid fathering a child during and for up to 6 months following treatment
This medicine may be harmful to an unborn baby. Women of child-bearing age should use a reliable contraceptive method to prevent pregnancy while using this medicine.
Special precautions must be taken by those preparing and handling cytotoxic medicines, in order to prevent self-contamination.
Fluid hydration must be given before, during and after this medicine to minimise the side effects on kidney funct