Alkylating drugs

Alkylating drugs

Alkylating drugs, given alone or with other drugs, effectively actagainst various malignant neoplasms. These drugs fall into one of six classes:

·                 nitrogen mustards

·                 alkyl sulfonates

·                 nitrosoureas

·                 triazenes

·                 ethylenimines

·                 alkylating-like drugs.

Unfazed at any phase

All of these drugs produce their antineoplastic effects by damag-ing deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). They halt DNA’s replication process by cross-linking its strands so that amino acids don’t pair up correctly. Alkylating drugs are cell cycle–phase nonspecific. This means that their alkylating actions may take place at any phase of the cell cycle.