ancitabine

Ancitabine (also known as cyclocytidine) is a synthetic pyrimidine nucleoside analog and a prodrug of cytarabine (ara-C). It is slowly hydrolyzed in vivo to cytarabine, which is subsequently phosphorylated intracellularly to its active triphosphate form, cytarabine triphosphate (ara-CTP). Ara-CTP acts as an antimetabolite by competing with deoxycytidine triphosphate (dCTP) for incorporation into DNA, leading to DNA chain termination during the S phase of the cell cycle, and by directly inhibiting DNA polymerase. Because of its slow hydrolytic conversion, ancitabine provides a more prolonged and consistent therapeutic effect compared to cytarabine and is resistant to deamination by cytidine deaminase. Developed originally by Kohjin and manufactured by the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, ancitabine has been approved and used clinically in Japan for the treatment of hematological malignancies, including acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). It has also demonstrated preclinical antiviral activity against DNA viruses such as cytomegalovirus and vaccinia virus.

Brand names

Ancid

Other names

2,2'-O-cyclocytidine2,2'-anhydro-1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine2,2'-anhydro-ara-C2,2'-anhydroarabinosylcytosine2,2'-anhydrocytarabine2,2'-anhydrocytidineancitabine hydrochlorideancytabinecyclo-Ccyclo-CMPcyclocytidinecyclocytidine hydrochloride