Topotecan 1mg powder for solution for infusion vials
An antineoplastic agent used to treat ovarian cancer.
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 Topotecan
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 Topotecan
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.
4 branded products available
MHRA licensed products
View all licensed products for Topotecan on the MHRA register
Hycamtin 1mg powder for concentrate for solution for infusion vials
Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK Ltd
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(8)
Topotecan for the treatment of relapsed small-cell lung cancer (TA184)
Topotecan for the treatment of recurrent and stage IVB cervical cancer (TA183)
Topotecan, pegylated liposomal doxorubicin hydrochloride, paclitaxel, trabectedin and gemcitabine for treating recurrent ovarian cancer (TA389)
Ovarian cancer: recognition and initial management (CG122)
Mirvetuximab soravtansine for treating folate receptor-alpha-positive platinum-resistant epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer (TA1169)
Tarlatamab for extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer after 2 or more treatments (TA1091)
Tisotumab vedotin for treating recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer that has progressed on or after systemic treatment (TA1164)
Lung cancer: diagnosis and management (NG122)
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: 5 · Randomised trials: 14 · 1992–2025
Showing the 50 most relevant studies, sorted by most relevant.
Caroline Main, Laura Bojke, Susan Griffin, et al.
Health Technology Assessment, 2006
- Antibiotics, Antineoplastic
- Antineoplastic Agents
- Cost-Benefit Analysis
Harry J. Long, Brian N. Bundy, Edward C. Grendys, et al.
Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2005
- Antineoplastic Agents
- Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols
- Uterine Cervical Neoplasms
Joachim von Pawel, Robert M. Jotte, David R. Spigel, et al.
Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2014
- Antineoplastic Agents
- Genotype
- Lung Neoplasms
Akira Inoue, Shunichi Sugawara, Koichi Yamazaki, et al.
Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2008
- Lung Neoplasms
- Survival Rate
- Carcinoma, Small Cell
Jacobus Pfisterer, B. Weber, Alexander Reuß, et al.
JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 2006
- Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols
- France
- Germany
A. Poveda, F. Selle, F. Hilpert, et al.
Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2015
Robert M. Jotte, Paul Conkling, Craig H. Reynolds, et al.
Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2010
- Antineoplastic Agents
- Lung Neoplasms
- Neutropenia
K. Goto, Y. Ohe, T. Shibata, et al.
The Lancet. Oncology, 2016
Nobuyuki Horita, Masaki Yamamoto, Takashi Sato, et al.
Scientific Reports, 2015
- Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols
- Neoplasm Recurrence, Local
- Disease-Free Survival
V. Rosen, I. Guerra, M. McCormack, et al.
International Journal of Gynecological Cancer, 2017
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
2-3 hours
Mechanism
Topotecan has the same mechanism of action as irinotecan and is believed to exer…
Food interactions
1 warning
Human targets
3 targets
Data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Pharmacokinetics at a glance
Half-life
2-3 hours
Protein binding
35%
Metabolism
Elimination
9 days
Pharmacokinetic data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Known interactions with other medications. Always consult a healthcare professional.
Showing 50 of 1498 interactions
Topotecan mimics a DNA base pair and binds at the site of DNA cleavage by intercalating between the upstream (−1) and downstream (+1) base pairs. Intercalation displaces the downstream DNA, thus preventing religation of the cleaved strand. By specifically binding to the enzyme–substrate complex, Topotecan acts as an uncompetitive inhibitor.
How the body processes this drug — absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination
Proteins and enzymes this drug interacts with in the body
The free DNA strand then rotates around the intact phosphodiester bond on the opposing strand, thus removing DNA supercoils. Finally, in the religation step, the DNA 5'-OH attacks the covalent intermediate to expel the active-site tyrosine and restore the DNA phosphodiester backbone (By similarity). Regulates the alternative splicing of tissue factor (F3) pre-mRNA in endothelial cells.
Involved in the circadian transcription of the core circadian clock component BMAL1 by altering the chromatin structure around the ROR response elements (ROREs) on the BMAL1 promoter
The free DNA strand then rotates around the intact phosphodiester bond on the opposing strand, thus removing DNA supercoils. Finally, in the religation step, the DNA 5'-OH attacks the covalent intermediate to expel the active-site tyrosine and restore the DNA phosphodiester backbone (By similarity)
Proteins that transport this drug across cell membranes
PMID:11306452 PMID:12958161 PMID:19506252 PMID:20705604 PMID:28554189 PMID:30405239 PMID:31003562
Involved in porphyrin homeostasis, mediating the export of protoporphyrin IX (PPIX) from both mitochondria to cytosol and cytosol to extracellular space, it also functions in the cellular export of heme .
PMID:20705604 PMID:23189181
Also mediates the efflux of sphingosine-1-P from cells .
PMID:20110355
Acts as a urate exporter functioning in both renal and extrarenal urate excretion .
PMID:19506252 PMID:20368174 PMID:22132962 PMID:31003562 PMID:36749388
In kidney, it also functions as a physiological exporter of the uremic toxin indoxyl sulfate (By similarity). Also involved in the excretion of steroids like estrone 3-sulfate/E1S, 3beta-sulfooxy-androst-5-en-17-one/DHEAS, and other sulfate conjugates .
PMID:12682043 PMID:28554189 PMID:30405239
Mediates the secretion of the riboflavin and biotin vitamins into milk (By similarity). Extrudes pheophorbide a, a phototoxic porphyrin catabolite of chlorophyll, reducing its bioavailability (By similarity).
Plays an important role in the exclusion of xenobiotics from the brain (Probable). It confers to cells a resistance to multiple drugs and other xenobiotics including mitoxantrone, pheophorbide, camptothecin, methotrexate, azidothymidine, and the anthracyclines daunorubicin and doxorubicin, through the control of their efflux .
PMID:11306452 PMID:12477054 PMID:15670731 PMID:18056989 PMID:31254042
In placenta, it limits the penetration of drugs from the maternal plasma into the fetus (By similarity). May play a role in early stem cell self-renewal by blocking differentiation (By similarity).
In inflammatory macrophages, exports itaconate from the cytosol to the extracellular compartment and limits the activation of TFEB-dependent lysosome biogenesis involved in antibacterial innate immune response
PMID:2897240 PMID:35970996 PMID:8898203 PMID:9038218 PMID:35507548
Catalyzes the flop of phospholipids from the cytoplasmic to the exoplasmic leaflet of the apical membrane. Participates mainly to the flop of phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, beta-D-glucosylceramides and sphingomyelins .
PMID:8898203
Energy-dependent efflux pump responsible for decreased drug accumulation in multidrug-resistant cells PMID:2897240 PMID:35970996 PMID:9038218
PMID:16330770 PMID:17509534
Plays a physiological role in the excretion of cationic compounds including endogenous metabolites, drugs, toxins through the kidney and liver, into urine and bile respectively .
PMID:16330770 PMID:17495125 PMID:17509534 PMID:17582384 PMID:18305230 PMID:19158817 PMID:21128598 PMID:24961373
Mediates the efflux of endogenous compounds such as creatinine, vitamin B1/thiamine, agmatine and estrone-3-sulfate .
PMID:16330770 PMID:17495125 PMID:17509534 PMID:17582384 PMID:18305230 PMID:19158817 PMID:21128598 PMID:24961373
May also contribute to regulate the transport of cationic compounds in testis across the blood-testis-barrier (Probable)
Plays a physiological role in the excretion of drugs, toxins and endogenous metabolites through the kidney
ATC L01CE01
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)
Topotecan
Additional database identifiers
Drugs Product Database (DPD)
11431
ChemSpider
54705
BindingDB
50008935
PDB
TTC
ZINC
ZINC000001611274
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:11986
GenAtlas
TOP1
GeneCards
TOP1
GenBank Gene Database
J03250
GenBank Protein Database
339806
UniProt Accession
TOP1_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:29787
GenAtlas
TOP1MT
GeneCards
TOP1MT
GenBank Gene Database
AF349031
GenBank Protein Database
15919359
UniProt Accession
TOP1M_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:74
GenAtlas
ABCG2
GeneCards
ABCG2
GenBank Gene Database
AF103796
GenBank Protein Database
4185796
Guide to Pharmacology
792
UniProt Accession
ABCG2_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:40
GenAtlas
ABCB1
GeneCards
ABCB1
GenBank Gene Database
M14758
GenBank Protein Database
307180
Guide to Pharmacology
768
UniProt Accession
MDR1_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:25588
GeneCards
SLC47A1
GenBank Gene Database
AK001709
GenBank Protein Database
7023138
Guide to Pharmacology
1216
UniProt Accession
S47A1_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:26439
GeneCards
SLC47A2
Guide to Pharmacology
1217
UniProt Accession
S47A2_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 (Q419953), 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.