Expert opinion on investigational drugs
-
Expert Opin Investig Drugs · Aug 2005
ReviewThe role of pixantrone in the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Pixantrone is an anthraquinone-based inhibitor of topoisomerase II. It is similar to both the anthracycline doxorubicin and the anthracenedione mitoxantrone, but lacks the 5,8-dihydroxy substitution pattern of mitoxantrone, and has a tricyclic system unlike the tetracyclic structure seen with anthracyclines. Anthracyclines are the most active drugs in lymphoma therapy, but their use is limited by their cumulative and irreversible cardiotoxicity. ⋯ Interestingly, pixantrone showed no measurable cardiotoxicity compared with its parent compound mitoxantrone or other anthracyclines at equi-effective doses in several animal models. Together with its superior cytotoxic activity in leukaemia and lymphoma models, these features render the drug a promising candidate for clinical development in indolent and aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. In this review, the latest results of the use of pixantrone in indolen-t and aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphomas are summarised.