Gemcitabine
A healthcare provider may prescribe gemcitabine to treat several types of cancer, including ovarian cancer, breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, and pancreatic cancer. Gemcitabine is administered intravenously and is usually given at your healthcare provider's office, a hospital, or an "infusion center." The dose of gemcitabine your healthcare provider recommends will vary depending on several factors, such as your weight and height, the type of cancer being treated, other medical conditions you may have, and other medications you may be taking.
Gemcitabine (
Gemzar®) is a prescription medication used to treat various types of cancer. Specifically, gemcitabine is approved to treat:
Gemcitabine is currently made by Eli Lilly.
How Does Gemcitabine Work?
Gemcitabine is part of a group of medications called antimetabolites. Antimetabolites are medications that are very similar to naturally occurring chemicals in the body that cells use to build DNA and other important parts of the cell. Antimetabolites are similar enough to these chemicals that cells mistake them for the real chemicals, using them to build DNA. However, antimetabolites are different enough that the DNA (or other cell structures) built using them will not function properly. Since DNA is essential for cells to grow and multiply, antimetabolite medications prevent cell growth and multiplication and may cause cell death.
While gemcitabine can kill both healthy and cancerous cells, it has a greater effect on cells that are multiplying rapidly. Generally, cancer cells multiply more rapidly than healthy cells and are therefore more affected by gemcitabine.
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