ATC Group: L01AD Nitrosoureas

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.

Position of L01AD in the ATC hierarchy

Level Code Title
1 L Antineoplastic and immunomodulating agents
2 L01 Antineoplastic agents
3 L01A Alkylating agents
4 L01AD Nitrosoureas

Group L01AD contents

Code Title
L01AD01 Carmustine
L01AD02 Lomustine
L01AD03 Semustine
L01AD04 Streptozocin
L01AD05 Fotemustine
L01AD06 Nimustine
L01AD07 Ranimustine

Active ingredients in L01AD

Active Ingredient Description
Carmustine

Carmustine is a cell-cycle phase nonspecific antineoplastic agent of the nitrosourea type. As an alkylating agent, it can alkylate reactive sites on nucleoproteins, thus interfering with DNA and RNA synthesis and DNA repair. In addition, carmustine is known to carbamoylate lysine residues on proteins causing irreversible inactivation of enzymes including glutathione reductase.

Fotemustine

Fotemustine is a chloroethylating nitrosourea with antineoplastic activity. Fotemustine alkylates guanine by forming chloroethyl adducts at the 6 position of guanine, resulting in N1-guanine and N3-cytosine cross linkages, inhibition of DNA synthesis, cell cycle arrest, and finally apoptosis. This agent is lipophilic and crosses the blood-brain barrier.

Lomustine

Lomustine’s mode of action is believed to be partly as an alkylating agent and partly by inhibition of several steps in the synthesis of nucleic acid and inhibition of the repair of single strand breaks in DNA chains.

Streptozocin

Related product monographs

Title Information Source Document Type  
CARMUSTINE OBVIUS Powder and solvent for solution for infusion European Medicines Agency (EU) MPI, EU: SmPC
GLIADEL Implant Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (GB) MPI, EU: SmPC
ZANOSAR Powder for concentrate for solution Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (GB) MPI, EU: SmPC