List of Anticancer Drugs and its Molecular Mechanisms of Action

Anti-cancer Drugs or Antineoplastic Agents

Definition: Anticancer, or antineoplastic, drugs are used to treat malignancies, or cancerous growths. Drug therapy may be used alone, or in combination with other treatments such as surgery or radiation therapy. 

Common Anti-cancer Drugs

 Lists of Anticancer Drugs 

No	Name	Type	Mode of action
1	Methotrexate	Folic acid Analogue	Competitive inhibitor of dihydrofolate reductase. THFA is required for nucleotide synthesis
2	Mitomycin C	Antibiotics	Cross bridges are formed between DNA base pairs
3	Actinomycin D	Antibiotics	Intercalates with guanine bases of DNA; prevents transcription.
4	Cis platin	Platinum compound	Forms intrastrand DNA adducts
5	Etoposide	Podophyllotoxin	Stabilises isomerase II DNA cleavage complexes
6	Campotothecin		Modifies function of topoisomerases I to DNA breaking agent
7	Vincristine &  Vin blastine	Alkaloids from Vinca rosea	Interfers with assembly of cytoskeleton and inhibits spindle movement (stathmokinesis)
8	Adriamycin	Anthracyclines	Topo isomerase mediated breaks in DNA
9	Cyclophosphamide	Alkylating agent	Cross linking of bases of DNA ; inhibition of strand separation
10	6 Mercapto purine	Purine Analogue	Inhibits  the conversion of IMP to AMP
11	6 thioguanine	Purine Analogue	Inhibits thymidylate synthase reaction