- Depocyt is a sterile, injectable antimetabolite drug that is used to slow the progress or stop the growth of cancerous cells within the body by disrupting the cell's life cycle.
- It was officially approved by the FDA on April 17, 2007.
- The active ingredient is Cytarabine, which is composed of a cytosine that binds with an arabinose sugar, similar to the binding of the deoxyribose sugar to cytosine in DNA.
-When deoxyribose binds with cytosine it forms a component of human DNA, but when arabinose and cytosine bind, the cell is killed.
- Cytarabine was first synthesized in 1959 and has since been used as a chemotherapy medication to treat cancer of the white blood cells such as Lymphomatous Meningitis.
- The half-life of cytarabine in the cerebrospinal fluid is relatively short; therefore, constant administration of the drug is required.
- By encapsulating cytarabine within a liposome, the therapeutic effect has the potential to last up to two weeks before another administration of the drug is required.