Kt. Kivisto et al., THE ROLE OF HUMAN CYTOCHROME-P450 ENZYMES IN THE METABOLISM OF ANTICANCER AGENTS - IMPLICATIONS FOR DRUG-INTERACTIONS, British journal of clinical pharmacology, 40(6), 1995, pp. 523-530
1 Little information is available about the pharmacokinetic interactio
ns of anticancer drugs in man. However, clinically significant drug in
teractions do occur in cancer chemotherapy, and it is likely that impo
rtant interactions have not been recognized. 2 Specific cytochrome P45
0 (CYP) enzymes have been recently shown to be involved in the metabol
ism of several essential anticancer agents. In particular, enzymes of
the CYP3A subfamily play a role in the metabolism of many anticancer d
rugs, including epipodophyllotoxins, ifosphamide, tamoxifen, taxol and
vinca alkaloids. CYP3A4 has been shown to catalyse the activation of
the prodrug ifosphamide, raising the possibility that ifosphamide coul
d be activated in tumour tissues containing this enzyme. 3 As examples
of recently found, clinically significant interactions, cyclosporin c
onsiderably increases plasma doxorubicin and etoposide concentrations.
Although cyclosporin and calcium channel blockers may influence the p
harmacokinetics of certain anticancer agents by inhibiting their CYP3A
mediated metabolism, it is more likely that these P-glycoprotein inhi
bitors inhibit P-glycoprotein mediated drug elimination. 4 Appropriate
caution should be exercised when combining P-glycoprotein inhibitors
and potential CYP3A inhibitors with cancer chemotherapy.