The World Health Organization's ATC classification organizes medical drugs based on therapeutic properties, chemical composition, and anatomy. It helps make essential medicines readily available globally and is widely used in the pharmaceutical industry.
Level | Code | Title | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | L | Antineoplastic and immunomodulating agents | |
2 | L01 | Antineoplastic agents | |
3 | L01B | Antimetabolites | |
4 | L01BC | Pyrimidine analogues | |
5 | L01BC03 | Tegafur |
Active Ingredient | Description | |
---|---|---|
Tegafur |
Tegafur is a prodrug of 5-FU with good oral bioavailability. Following oral administration, tegafur is gradually converted to 5-FU in vivo, mainly by CYP2A6 enzyme activity in the liver. 5-FU is metabolised by the liver enzyme DPD. 5-FU is activated within cells by phosphorylation to its active metabolite, 5-fluoro-deoxyuridine-monophosphate (FdUMP). FdUMP and reduced folate are bound to thymidylate synthase leading to formation of a ternary complex which inhibits DNA synthesis. In addition, 5-fluorouridine-triphosphate (FUTP) is incorporated into RNA causing disruption of RNA functions. |
Note the following: The list of brand names is continuously updated, and thus does not include the total of products circulating worldwide.