Fosbretabulin (also known as combretastatin A-4 phosphate or CA4P) is a microtubule destabilizing experimental drug, a type of vascular-targeting agent, a drug designed to damage the vasculature (blood vessels) of cancer tumours causing central necrosis. It is a derivative of

combretastatin Combretastatin is a dihydrostilbenoid found in '' Combretum caffrum''. As a class Combretastatins are a class of natural phenols. A variety of different natural combretastatin molecules are present in the bark of '' Combretum caffrum'', commonly ...

. It is formulated as the

salts In chemistry, a salt is a chemical compound consisting of an ionic assembly of positively charged cations and negatively charged anions, which results in a compound with no net electric charge. A common example is table salt, with positively cha ...

fosbretabulin disodium and fosbretabulin tromethamine. Fosbretabulin is a

prodrug A prodrug is a medication or compound that, after intake, is metabolized (i.e., converted within the body) into a pharmacologically active drug. Instead of administering a drug directly, a corresponding prodrug can be used to improve how the drug ...

. ''

In vivo Studies that are ''in vivo'' (Latin for "within the living"; often not italicized in English) are those in which the effects of various biological entities are tested on whole, living organisms or cells, usually animals, including humans, and ...

'', it is dephosphorylated to its

active metabolite An active metabolite is an active form of a drug after it has been processed by the body. Metabolites of drugs An active metabolite results when a drug is metabolized by the body into a modified form which continues to produce effects in the body ...

combretastatin A-4 Combretastatin A-4 is a combretastatin and a stilbenoid. It can be isolated from '' Combretum caffrum'', the Eastern Cape South African bushwillow tree or in '' Combretum leprosum'', the mofumbo, a species found in Brazil. Function Tubulin repre ...

. In July 2007, the pharmaceutical company OXiGENE initiated a 180-patient phase III clinical trial of fosbretabulin in combination with

carboplatin Carboplatin, sold under the trade name Paraplatin among others, is a chemotherapy medication used to treat a number of forms of cancer. This includes ovarian cancer, lung cancer, head and neck cancer, brain cancer, and neuroblastoma. It is used b ...

for the treatment of

anaplastic thyroid cancer Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC), also known as anaplastic thyroid carcinoma, is an aggressive form of thyroid cancer characterized by uncontrolled growth of cells in the thyroid gland. This form of cancer generally carries a very poor prognosis du ...

. There is currently no fully FDA approved treatment for this form of cancer. By 2017, it had completed multiple clinical trials (e.g. for solid tumours, non-small cell lung cancer) with more in progress.

References

Prodrugs Experimental cancer drugs Phosphate esters {{antineoplastic-drug-stub

See also

References