Epirubicin is an anthracycline

Anthracycline

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

 drug

Medication

A pharmaceutical drug, also referred to as medicine, medication or medicament, can be loosely defined as any chemical substance intended for use in the medical diagnosis, cure, treatment, or prevention of disease.- Classification :...

 used for 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 marketed by Pfizer

Pfizer

Pfizer, Inc. is an American multinational pharmaceutical corporation. The company is based in New York City, New York with its research headquarters in Groton, Connecticut, United States...

 under the trade name Ellence in the US and Pharmorubicin or Epirubicin Ebewe elsewhere.

Similarly to other anthracyclines, epirubicin acts 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

DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...

 strands.
Intercalation results in complex formation which inhibits DNA and RNA synthesis. It also triggers DNA cleavage by topoisomerase II, resulting in mechanisms that lead to cell death.