bendamustine

Meaning of bendamustine: Bendamustine is an alkylating chemotherapy drug with a structure related to purine building blocks, used mainly for certain leukemias and lymphomas.

Definition of bendamustine

Bendamustine is a chemotherapy medication classified as an alkylating agent, a type of drug that damages the DNA of cells, including cancer cells, interfering with their ability to divide and causing them to die. Bendamustine is structurally unusual among alkylating agents because it also contains a ring structure related to purines, one of the building blocks of DNA and RNA, though it is not itself classified as an antimetabolite, a separate drug category that works by interfering with those building blocks directly.

Bendamustine is used to treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia and certain slow growing, or indolent, B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas, particularly disease that has progressed after treatment with other anticancer drugs, including rituximab containing regimens.

Bendamustine is generally given as an intravenous infusion on a repeating cycle, and like other chemotherapy drugs that damage DNA broadly, it can also affect rapidly dividing normal cells, particularly those in the bone marrow.