Doxorubicin INN

International Nonproprietary Name

An International Nonproprietary Name is the official nonproprietary or generic name given to a pharmaceutical substance, as designated by the World Health Organization...

 (icon; trade name Adriamycin; also known as hydroxydaunorubicin) is a drug used in cancer chemotherapy

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with an antineoplastic drug or with a combination of such drugs into a standardized treatment regimen....

. It is an anthracycline

Anthracycline

Anthracyclines are a class of drugs used in cancer chemotherapy derived from Streptomyces bacterium Streptomyces peucetius var...

 antibiotic

Antibiotic

An antibacterial is a compound or substance that kills or slows down the growth of bacteria.The term is often used synonymously with the term antibiotic; today, however, with increased knowledge of the causative agents of various infectious diseases, antibiotic has come to denote a broader range of...

, closely related to the natural product

Natural product

A natural product is a chemical compound or substance produced by a living organism - found in nature that usually has a pharmacological or biological activity for use in pharmaceutical drug discovery and drug design...

 daunomycin

Daunorubicin

Daunorubicin or daunomycin is chemotherapeutic of the anthracycline family that is given as a treatment for some types of cancer. It is most commonly used to treat specific types of leukaemia...

, and like all anthracyclines, it works by intercalating

Intercalation (chemistry)

In chemistry, intercalation is the reversible inclusion of a molecule between two other molecules . Examples include DNA intercalation and graphite intercalation compounds.- DNA intercalation :...

 DNA.

Doxorubicin is commonly used in the treatment of a wide range of cancer

Cancer

Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...

s, including hematological malignancies

Hematological malignancy

Hematological malignancies are the types of cancer that affect blood, bone marrow, and lymph nodes. As the three are intimately connected through the immune system, a disease affecting one of the three will often affect the others as well: although lymphoma is technically a disease of the lymph...

, many types of carcinoma

Carcinoma

Carcinoma is the medical term for the most common type of cancer occurring in humans. Put simply, a carcinoma is a cancer that begins in a tissue that lines the inner or outer surfaces of the body, and that generally arises from cells originating in the endodermal or ectodermal germ layer during...

, and soft tissue sarcoma

Soft tissue sarcoma

A soft-tissue sarcoma is a form of sarcoma that develops in connective tissue, though the term is sometimes applied to elements of the soft tissue that are not currently considered connective tissue.-Risk factors:...

s.

Doxorubicin's most serious adverse effect is life-threatening heart damage.

The drug is administered intravenously

Intravenous therapy

Intravenous therapy or IV therapy is the infusion of liquid substances directly into a vein. The word intravenous simply means "within a vein". Therapies administered intravenously are often called specialty pharmaceuticals...

, in the form of hydrochloride salt.