Etoposide

Etoposide is a chemotherapy medicine used against testicular cancer, lung cancer, lymphoma, leukemia, neuroblastoma and ovarian cancer. It is a semisynthetic derivative of podophyllotoxin, a compound extracted from the rhizome of the mayapple plant, Podophyllum peltatum. As a topoisomerase II inhibitor, it binds to the enzyme while it is attached to DNA and stops it from resealing the breaks it makes during normal DNA repair, so the breaks stay open and rapidly dividing cancer cells die. The United States Food and Drug Administration approved etoposide in 1983, and it is given either as an oral capsule or tablet or by intravenous injection, sold under brand names including Vepesid, Etopophos and Toposar.