Epirubicin 200mg/100ml solution for infusion vials
Requires a prescription from a doctor or prescriber
An anthracycline which is the 4'-epi-isomer of doxorubicin.
Official documents, adverse reaction reporting, and safety monitoring
Report a side effect
Submit a Yellow Card report to the MHRA
Official medicine documents
Safety monitoring data
Yellow Card reports
The MHRA Yellow Card scheme collects reports of suspected side effects from healthcare professionals and patients. View the Drug Analysis Profile (iDAP) for real-world adverse reaction data.
View Drug Analysis Profile
Suspected adverse reactions reported for Epirubicin
Browse all iDAP reports
Interactive Drug Analysis Profiles for all medicines
Report a side effect
Submit a Yellow Card report to the MHRA
Data from the MHRA Yellow Card scheme. A reported reaction does not necessarily mean the medicine caused it. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
EudraVigilance
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) collects suspected adverse reaction reports from across the EU/EEA through the EudraVigilance system. Search for safety data on this medicine.
View EudraVigilance report
Suspected adverse reactions reported for Epirubicin
About EudraVigilance
Learn about EU pharmacovigilance and safety monitoring
EudraVigilance data is published by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). A suspected adverse reaction is not necessarily caused by the medicine.
8 branded products available
MHRA licensed products
View all licensed products for Epirubicin on the MHRA register
Epirubicin 200mg/100ml solution for infusion vials
Epirubicin 200mg/100ml solution for infusion vials
Therapeutically similar medicines
Similarity is based on WHO Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification and on a factual NHS dm+d therapeutic-grouping code prefix. Source data: NHS dm+d via TRUD (OGL v3.0), WHO ATC/DDD Index.
NHS prescribing volume and spending trends
Guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
NICE clinical guidance(13)
Trastuzumab for the treatment of HER2-positive metastatic gastric cancer (TA208)
Capecitabine for the treatment of advanced gastric cancer (TA191)
Pembrolizumab for neoadjuvant and adjuvant treatment of triple-negative early or locally advanced breast cancer (TA851)
Prevention of chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting in adults: netupitant/palonosetron (ESNM69)
Early and metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer: subcutaneous trastuzumab (ESNM13)
Sacituzumab govitecan for treating unresectable triple-negative advanced breast cancer after 2 or more therapies (TA819)
Pembrolizumab with platinum- and fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy for untreated advanced oesophageal and gastro-oesophageal junction cancer (TA737)
Nivolumab with platinum- and fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy for untreated HER2-negative advanced gastric, gastro-oesophageal junction or oesophageal adenocarcinoma (TA857)
Pembrolizumab with trastuzumab and chemotherapy for untreated locally advanced unresectable or metastatic HER2-positive gastric or gastro-oesophageal junction adenocarcinoma (TA983)
Pembrolizumab with platinum- and fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy for untreated advanced HER2-negative gastric or gastro-oesophageal junction adenocarcinoma (TA997)
MammaTyper in vitro diagnostic test for determining breast cancer subtypes (MIB135)
Everolimus with exemestane for treating advanced breast cancer after endocrine therapy (TA421)
Oesophago-gastric cancer: assessment and management in adults (NG83)
Source: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Check stock at pharmacies and supply information
Pharmacy stock checkers
Search for this medicine at major UK pharmacy chains. These links open the retailer's own website — results depend on their current online catalogue.
Supply & safety information
Official UK regulator monitoring and safety alerts
Pharmacy links redirect to the retailer's own search and do not represent real-time stock levels. Shortage and safety information sourced from MHRA drug safety updates (gov.uk, Crown Copyright under OGL v3.0).
Codes for healthcare professionals and prescribing systems
These codes are used by healthcare IT systems and prescribers to identify this medicine.
NHS UK identifiers
Browse tools
SNOMED CT and dm+d codes from NHS TRUD (Technology Reference data Update Distribution), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. BNF code shown is the factual mapping value distributed by NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) in the dm+d supplementary file under OGL v3.0; it is not affiliated with, nor licensed from, the publishers of the British National Formulary. ATC codes from the WHO Collaborating Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology (whocc.no).
Active and completed clinical studies from ClinicalTrials.gov
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health (NIH). Data accessed via ClinicalTrials.gov API v2. Trial information is provided for research purposes and does not constitute medical advice.
Academic studies and reviews for this medicine's active substance
Showing the 50 most relevant studies.
Reviews & meta-analyses: 4 · Randomised trials: 42 · 1986–2026
Showing the 50 most relevant studies, sorted by most relevant.
Salah‐Eddin Al‐Batran, Nils Homann, Claudia Pauligk, et al.
The Lancet, 2019
- Capecitabine
- Docetaxel
- Oxaliplatin
Salah‐Eddin Al‐Batran, Ralf‐Dieter Hofheinz, Claudia Pauligk, et al.
The Lancet Oncology, 2016
- Esophagogastric Junction
- Docetaxel
- Adenocarcinoma
Daniel V.T. Catenacci, Niall C. Tebbutt, Ірина Давиденко, et al.
The Lancet Oncology, 2017
- Capecitabine
- Antibodies, Monoclonal
- Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols
S. Al-Batran, Nils Homann, H. Schmalenberg, et al.
Zeitschrift für Gastroenterologie, 2017
D. Alderson, D. Cunningham, M. Nankivell, et al.
The Lancet. Oncology, 2017
Aman U. Buzdar, Nuhad K. Ibrahim, Deborah Francis, et al.
Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2005
- Trastuzumab
- Antibodies, Monoclonal
- Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols
A. Webb, D. Cunningham, J. Howard Scarffe, et al.
Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, 1997
- Adenocarcinoma
- Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols
- Carcinoma
Tom Waddell, Ian Chau, David Cunningham, et al.
The Lancet Oncology, 2013
- Capecitabine
- Oxaliplatin
- Panitumumab
Mark N. Levine, V. Bramwell, Kathleen I. Pritchard, et al.
Journal of Clinical Oncology, 1998
- Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols
- Breast Neoplasms
- Cyclophosphamide
Stein Sundstrøm, Roy M. Bremnes, Stein Kaasa, et al.
Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2002
- Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols
- Cisplatin
- Combined Modality Therapy
Sources: aggregated from Europe PMC (EMBL-EBI), OpenAlex, Crossref, PubMed and other open scholarly databases. Retracted articles are excluded. Study information is provided for research purposes and does not constitute medical advice.
Pharmacology and chemical data from DrugBank
Key facts
Drug status
Approved
Major interactions
None known
Half-life
3 minutes
Mechanism
Epirubicin has antimitotic and cytotoxic activity.
Food interactions
1 warning
Human targets
3 targets
Data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Pharmacokinetics at a glance
Absorption
100%
Half-life
3 minutes
Protein binding
77%
Volume of distribution
2 L/kg
* 27 ± 11 L/kg [75 mg/m2 Dose]
* 23 ± 7 L/kg [120 mg/m2 Dose]
* 21 ± 7 L/kg [150 mg/m2 Dose]
Metabolism
10%
Elimination
Clearance
8 L/h
* 83 +/- 14 L/hour [Patients1 with Solid Tumors Receiving…
Pharmacokinetic data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Known interactions with other medications. Always consult a healthcare professional.
Showing 50 of 565 interactions
How the body processes this drug — absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination
* 27 ± 11 L/kg [75 mg/m2 Dose]
* 23 ± 7 L/kg [120 mg/m2 Dose]
* 21 ± 7 L/kg [150 mg/m2 Dose]
Epirubicinol exhibits in vitro cytoxic activity (~10% that of epirubicin), but it is unlikely to reach sufficient concentrations in vivo to produce cytotoxic effects.
* 83 +/- 14 L/hour [Patients1 with Solid Tumors Receiving Intravenous Epirubicin 75 mg/m2]
* 65 +/- 13 L/hour [Patients1 with Solid Tumors Receiving Intravenous Epirubicin 120 mg/m2]
* 69 +/- 13 L/hour [Patients1 with Solid Tumors Receiving Intravenous Epirubicin 150 mg/m2]
Proteins and enzymes this drug interacts with in the body
PMID:17567603 PMID:18790802 PMID:22013166 PMID:22323612
May play a role in regulating the period length of BMAL1 transcriptional oscillation (By similarity)
Enzymes involved in drug metabolism — important for understanding drug interactions
Proteins that transport this drug across cell membranes
PMID:10064732 PMID:11114332 PMID:16230346 PMID:7961706 PMID:9281595
Mediates ATP-dependent transport of glutathione and glutathione conjugates, leukotriene C4, estradiol-17-beta-o-glucuronide, methotrexate, antiviral drugs and other xenobiotics .
PMID:10064732 PMID:11114332 PMID:16230346 PMID:7961706 PMID:9281595
Confers resistance to anticancer drugs by decreasing accumulation of drug in cells, and by mediating ATP- and GSH-dependent drug export .
PMID:9281595
Hydrolyzes ATP with low efficiency .
PMID:16230346
Catalyzes the export of sphingosine 1-phosphate from mast cells independently of their degranulation .
PMID:17050692
Participates in inflammatory response by allowing export of leukotriene C4 from leukotriene C4-synthesizing cells (By similarity). Mediates ATP-dependent, GSH-independent cyclic GMP-AMP (cGAMP) export .
PMID:36070769
Thus, by limiting intracellular cGAMP concentrations negatively regulates the cGAS-STING pathway .
PMID:36070769
Exports S-geranylgeranyl-glutathione (GGG) in lymphoid cells and stromal compartments of lymphoid organs. ABCC1 (via extracellular transport) with GGT5 (via GGG catabolism) establish GGG gradients within lymphoid tissues to position P2RY8-positive lymphocytes at germinal centers in lymphoid follicles and restrict their chemotactic transmigration from blood vessels to the bone marrow parenchyma (By similarity).
Mediates basolateral export of GSH-conjugated R- and S-prostaglandin A2 diastereomers in polarized epithelial cells PMID:9426231
ATC L01DB03
Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
Show
Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
Linked compound data from DrugBank Open Data (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Epirubicin
Additional database identifiers
Drugs Product Database (DPD)
20259
ChemSpider
38201
BindingDB
43839
ZINC
ZINC000003938704
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:11990
GenAtlas
TOP2B
GeneCards
TOP2B
GenBank Gene Database
X68060
UniProt Accession
TOP2B_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:11989
GenAtlas
TOP2A
GeneCards
TOP2A
GenBank Gene Database
J04088
GenBank Protein Database
292830
Guide to Pharmacology
2637
UniProt Accession
TOP2A_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:12554
GeneCards
UGT2B7
GenBank Gene Database
J05428
GenBank Protein Database
340080
UniProt Accession
UD2B7_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:9035
GenAtlas
PLA2G4A
GeneCards
PLA2G4A
GenBank Gene Database
M72393
GenBank Protein Database
190007
Guide to Pharmacology
1424
UniProt Accession
PA24A_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:51
GenAtlas
ABCC1
GeneCards
ABCC1
GenBank Gene Database
L05628
GenBank Protein Database
1835659
Guide to Pharmacology
779
UniProt Accession
MRP1_HUMAN
DrugBank citations
If you use DrugBank data in your research, please cite the following publications:
Show earlier publications
Structured knowledge from the free knowledge base
ATC classifications (Wikidata)
Linked open data from Wikidata (Q425122), a free and open knowledge base operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Data is available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication. WHO INN from the World Health Organization.