Clofarabine
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Clofarabine is a purine nucleoside antimetabolite marketed in the United States and Canada as Clolar. In Europe and Australia/New Zealand the product is marketed under the name Evoltra. It is FDA-approved for treating relapsed or refractory acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) in children after at least two other types of treatment have failed. Some investigations of effectiveness in cases of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) and juvenile myelomonocytic leukaemia (JMML) have been carried out. Ongoing trials are assessing its efficacy for managing other cancers.


Approval

Clolar was
Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respo ...
(FDA) approved 28 December 2004. (Under accelerated approval regulations requiring further clinical studies.)


Side effects

* Tumor lysis syndrome (TLS). Clofarabine quickly kills leukaemia cells in the blood. The body may react to this. Signs include hyperkalemia, hyperuricemia, and hyperphosphatemia. TLS is very serious and can lead to death if it is not treated right away. * Systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS): symptoms include fast breathing, fast heartbeat, low blood pressure, and fluid in the lungs. *Bone marrow problems (suppression). Clofarabine can stop the bone marrow from making enough red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Serious side effects that can happen because of bone marrow suppression include severe infection (
sepsis Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage of sepsis is followed by suppression of the immune system. Common signs and s ...
), bleeding, and
anemia Anemia (also spelt anaemia in British English) is a blood disorder in which the blood has a reduced ability to carry oxygen. This can be due to a lower than normal number of red blood cells, a reduction in the amount of hemoglobin availabl ...
. *Effects on
pregnancy Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring gestation, gestates inside a woman's uterus. A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Conception (biology), Conception usually occurs ...
and
breastfeeding Breastfeeding, also known as nursing, is the process where breast milk is fed to a child. Infants may suck the milk directly from the breast, or milk may be extracted with a Breast pump, pump and then fed to the infant. The World Health Orga ...
. Girls and women should not become pregnant or breastfeed during treatment which may harm the baby. * Dehydration and low blood pressure. Clofarabine can cause
vomiting Vomiting (also known as emesis, puking and throwing up) is the forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the nose. Vomiting can be the result of ailments like food poisoning, gastroenteritis, pre ...
and
diarrhea Diarrhea (American English), also spelled diarrhoea or diarrhœa (British English), is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements in a day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration d ...
which may lead to low body fluid (dehydration). Signs and symptoms of dehydration include dizziness, lightheadedness, fainting spells, or decreased
urination Urination is the release of urine from the bladder through the urethra in Placentalia, placental mammals, or through the cloaca in other vertebrates. It is the urinary system's form of excretion. It is also known medically as micturition, v ...
. *Other side effects. The most common side effects are stomach problems (including vomiting, diarrhea, and
nausea Nausea is a diffuse sensation of unease and discomfort, sometimes perceived as an urge to vomit. It can be a debilitating symptom if prolonged and has been described as placing discomfort on the chest, abdomen, or back of the throat. Over 30 d ...
), and effects on blood cells (including low red blood cells count, low white blood cell count, low platelet count,
fever Fever or pyrexia in humans is a symptom of an anti-infection defense mechanism that appears with Human body temperature, body temperature exceeding the normal range caused by an increase in the body's temperature Human body temperature#Fever, s ...
, and infection). Clofarabine can also cause
tachycardia Tachycardia, also called tachyarrhythmia, is a heart rate that exceeds the normal resting rate. In general, a resting heart rate over 100 beats per minute is accepted as tachycardia in adults. Heart rates above the resting rate may be normal ...
and can affect the
liver The liver is a major metabolic organ (anatomy), organ exclusively found in vertebrates, which performs many essential biological Function (biology), functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of var ...
and
kidneys In humans, the kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped blood-filtering organs that are a multilobar, multipapillary form of mammalian kidneys, usually without signs of external lobulation. They are located on the left and right in the retro ...
.


Contraindications

*pregnancy or planned pregnancy *breast-feeding *liver problems *kidney problems


Drug interactions

*nephrotoxic drugs *hepatotoxic drugs


Delivery

*By intravenous infusion. *Dosage is a 2-hour infusion (52 mg/m2) every day for five days. The cycle is repeated every 2 to 6 weeks. *Regular blood tests to monitor his or her blood cells, kidney function, and liver function.


Biology

Clofarabine is a second-generation purine nucleoside analog designed to overcome biological limitations observed with ara-A and fludarabine. A 2´(S)-fluorine in clofarabine significantly increased the stability of the glycosidic bond in acidic solution and toward phosphorolytic cleavage as compared to fludarabine. A chlorine substitution at the 2-position of the adenine base avoids production of a 2-fluoroadenine analog, a precursor to the toxic 2-fluoro-adenosine-5´-triphosphate and prevents deamination of the base as compared to ara-A. Clofarabine can be administered intravenously or given orally. Clofarabine enters cells via hENT1, hENT2, and hCNT2, where upon it is phosphorylated by deoxycytidine kinase to generate clofarabine-5´-monophosphate. The rate-limiting step in clofarabine metabolism is clofarabine-5´-diphosphosphate. Clofarabine-5´-triphosphate is the active-metabolite, and it inhibits ribonucleotide reductase, resulting in a decrease cellular dNTP concentrations, which promotes greater incorporation of clofarabine-5´-triphosphate during DNA synthesis. Embedded clofarabine-5´-monophosphate in the DNA promotes polymerase arrest at the replication fork, triggering DNA repair mechanisms that without repair lead to DNA strand breaks in vitro and cytochrome c-mediated apoptosis in vitro. Studies using cell lines have shown that clofarabine-5´-triphosphate can also be incorporated into RNA. Mechanisms of resistance and turnover have been reported. Clofarabine-resistance arises from decreased deoxycytidine kinase activity in vitro. ABC transporter ABCG2 promotes export of clofarabine-5´-monophosphate and thus limits the cytotoxic effects of this analog in vivo. Biochemically, clofarabine-5’-triphosphate was shown to be substrate for SAMHD1, thus potentially limiting the amount of active compound in cells.


References


External links

* {{Portal bar , Medicine Organofluorides Organochlorides Purines Purine antagonists Arabinosides Halohydrins Sanofi Hydroxymethyl compounds