Decitabine

Decitabine (trade name Dacogen), or 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine, acts as an Nucleic Acid Synthesis Inhibitor. It is a drug for the treatment of myelodysplastic syndromes, a class of conditions where certain blood cells are dysfunctional, and for acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Chemically, it is a cytidine analog. Decitabine (trade name Dacogen), or 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine, acts as an Nucleic Acid Synthesis Inhibitor. It is a drug for the treatment of myelodysplastic syndromes, a class of conditions where certain blood cells are dysfunctional, and for acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Chemically, it is a cytidine analog. Decitabine is used to treat myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) including previously treated and untreated, de novo and secondary MDS of all French-American-British subtypes (refractory anemia, refractory anemia with ringed sideroblasts, refractory anemia with excess blasts, refractory anemia with excess blasts in transformation, and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia) and Intermediate-1, Intermediate-2, and High-Risk International Prognostic Scoring System groups. In patients with chronic kidney disease, Batty and colleagues reported the first case series on the feasibility of therapy with hypomethylating agents in patients with chronic kidney disease. It also has EU approval for acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Decitabine is a hypomethylating agent. It hypomethylates DNA by inhibiting DNA methyltransferase. It functions in a similar manner to azacitidine, although decitabine can only be incorporated into DNA strands while azacitidine can be incorporated into both DNA and RNA chains.