Camptothecin Sodium

**Semantic type:** Organic Chemical|Pharmacologic Substance

**Definition:** The sodium salt of camptothecin, an alkaloid isolated from the Chinese tree Camptotheca acuminata, with antineoplastic activity. During the S phase of the cell cycle, camptothecin selectively stabilizes topoisomerase I-DNA covalent complexes, thereby inhibiting religation of topoisomerase I-mediated single-strand DNA breaks and producing potentially lethal double-strand DNA breaks when encountered by the DNA replication machinery. The sodium salt of camptothecin is more water-soluble than the parent molecule. (NCI04)

**Synonyms:** - CAMPTOTHECIN SODIUM - Camptothecin Sodium Salt - Camptothecin sodium - Camptothecin, sodium salt - Sodium camptothecin