ChemotherapyFDA-approvedFirst-line

Adriamycin

Generic name: doxorubicin

How it works

Interferes with DNA replication in cancer cells, causing cell death and preventing growth.

Cancer types

Breast Cancer— All patients

Efficacy

Studies show that Adriamycin can induce a complete response in around 20% of patients, with a median overall survival of approximately 30 months.

Side effects

Severe

This treatment carries a higher risk of serious side effects. Close medical monitoring is required throughout treatment.

Evidence from research

StudyCancer typeStageEfficacy
Understanding Doxorubicin Resistance in Breast Cancer CellsBreast Cancerlab-study—Source →
Combining Peptide and Doxorubicin May Help Treat Triple-Negative Breast CancerBreast Cancerlab-study—Source →
Myoglobin's Role in Breast Cancer Treatment ResponseBreast Cancerlab-study—Source →
Plant Compounds Enhance Chemotherapy in Colorectal Cancer CellsColorectal Cancerlab-studyCombined treatments with doxorubicin significantly reduced cell viability to approximately 10% in Caco2 cells.Source →
Exosomes May Contribute to Doxorubicin Resistance in Breast CancerBreast Cancerlab-study—Source →
FTY720 Makes Cancer Cells More Sensitive to DoxorubicinLeukemialab-study—Source →
Researchers Identify Metabolic Patterns Linked to Heart Damage in Breast Cancer PatientsBreast Cancerlab-study—Source →
Chemotherapy Resistance in Breast Cancer Linked to Blood Vessel ChangesBreast Canceranimal-study—Source →
Researchers Study How Tumors Resist ChemotherapyBreast Cancerlab-study—Source →
Researchers Create Resistant Leukemia Cells to Study Drug ResistanceLeukemialab-study—Source →
Understanding Doxorubicin's Heart Damage in Cancer TreatmentBreast Cancerreview—Source →
DNA Damage Repair Pathways and Doxorubicin-Resistant Breast CancerBreast Cancerreview—Source →
Researchers Identify How Lung Cancer Cells Resist ChemotherapyLung Cancerlab-study—Source →
New Biomarker for Heart Damage from Cancer TreatmentBreast Cancerphase-2—Source →
New Nanocarriers for Delivering Cancer MedicineBreast Cancerlab-studyThe nanocarriers exhibited pronounced pH-dependent doxorubicin release and enhanced cytotoxicity toward MCF-7 cells (IC₅₀ = 0.8 ± 0.1 μM)Source →
Doxorubicin Resistance Found in Leukemia Cells Grown in LabLeukemialab-studyOnly 0.26±0.21% of the resistant cells entered late apoptosis after 24h doxorubicin exposure.Source →
TBX20 linked to doxorubicin resistance in breast cancer cellsBreast Cancerlab-study—Source →
Combining Peptide and Chemotherapy May Help Treat Breast CancerBreast Cancerlab-studyNisin demonstrated cytotoxic effect against breast cancer MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells with IC50 values of 5-8 µM.Source →
Researchers Find Link Between Protein and Adriamycin Resistance in Breast CancerBreast Cancerlab-study—Source →
Cadmium-based Complex Loaded with Doxorubicin Shows Promise Against LeukemiaLeukemialab-study—Source →
Targeted Cancer Treatment Shows Promise for Colorectal CancerColorectal Cancerlab-studyDOX-P exhibited superior antitumor activity against colorectal cancer than that of DOX.Source →
STK32C and Doxorubicin Resistance in Triple-Negative Breast CancerBreast Cancerlab-study—Source →
Targeted Cancer Therapy Using Smart NanosystemBreast Cancerlab-study—Source →
New Compound Enhances Effectiveness of Cancer Treatment in Lab ExperimentsBreast Cancerlab-study—Source →
Cardiac MRI Helps Predict Heart Damage in Cancer SurvivorsLeukemialab-study—Source →
Drug Interactions in Breast Cancer PatientsBreast Cancerobservational—Source →
New Nanoparticles Show Promise in Treating Breast CancerBreast Cancerlab-studyThe cell viability declined to 13.98% in 24 hours at a concentration of 60 μg mL.Source →
Combining Doxorubicin and Oleanolic Acid May Improve Pancreatic Cancer TreatmentPancreatic Cancerlab-study—Source →
Combining Trimetazidine and Doxorubicin May Improve Cancer TreatmentBreast Canceranimal-studyThe DOX/TMZ combination exhibited a synergistic effect at both DOX/TMZ 1:10 and 1:5 ratios.Source →
New Nanosystem for Treating Melanoma CancerMelanomalab-study—Source →
Insulin's Effect on Breast Cancer Cells' Resistance to DoxorubicinBreast Cancerlab-study—Source →
New Options for Ovarian Cancer TreatmentOvarian Cancermeta-analysisThe risk of death was significantly decreased with carboplatin + pegylated liposomal doxorubicin + bevacizumab compared to platinum-based doublet CT (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.59, 95%CI 0.35, 1).Source →
GATA3 linked to doxorubicin resistance in breast cancerBreast Cancerlab-study—Source →
Doxorubicin Chemotherapy's Long-Term Effect on Children's HeartsLeukemiaobservational—Source →
New Cancer Treatment Combination Shows Promise in Ovarian CancerOvarian CancerpreclinicalThe objective response rate was 27.7% (95% CI 17.3% to 40.2%), including one complete (1.5%) and 17 partial responses (26.2%), with median duration of response of 7.6 (95% CI 3.3 to 10.2) months and median progression-free survival of 5.0 (95% CI 3.2 to 6.0) months.Source →
Combining Hesperidin and Doxorubicin May Help Treat Aggressive Breast CancerBreast Cancerlab-study—Source →
Caffeic Acid Phenethyl Ester May Help Overcome Chemotherapy Resistance in Breast CancerBreast Cancerlab-study—Source →
Naringin May Help Reduce Liver Damage from DoxorubicinLeukemialab-study—Source →
New Nanocarriers Deliver Cancer Drugs More EffectivelyBreast Cancerlab-studyNio-Cis-Dox-AL showed appropriate encapsulation efficiencies of 65.54 ± 1.25% and 80.65 ± 1.80% for Cis and Dox, respectively.Source →
Combining Adriamycin and Cyperotundone May Improve Breast Cancer TreatmentBreast Cancerlab-study—Source →
Dexrazoxane Protects Heart Function in Childhood Cancer SurvivorsLeukemiaphase-3Dexrazoxane was associated with a reduced risk of having lower left ventricular function (odds ratio, 0.24 [95% CI, 0.07 to 0.81]).Source →
Targeted Cancer Treatment Shows Promise in Lab ExperimentsBreast Cancerlab-study—Source →
Hypertension and Heart Failure in Breast Cancer PatientsBreast CancerobservationalThe RAS inhibitor group had a lower risk for primary outcome (adjusted HR = 0.78, 95% CI = 0.65-0.94) and death (adjusted HR = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.66-0.99) compared to the non-HT group.Source →
Lubeluzole May Help Cancer Treatment Work BetterOvarian Cancerlab-study—Source →
Combining Cancer Treatments May Improve Effectiveness in Breast Cancer CellsBreast Cancerlab-studyThe triple-combination synergistically inhibited cell growth, achieving a combination index of 0.672 and 0.157 in MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cells, respectively.Source →
Optimizing Chemotherapy Schedules for Breast CancerBreast Cancerlab-study—Source →
Combining Epigenetic and Chemotherapy Treatments for Breast CancerBreast Cancerlab-study—Source →
Circular RNA May Contribute to Breast Cancer Progression and Treatment ResistanceBreast Cancerlab-studyCircATXN7 silencing suppressed breast cancer development and doxorubicin resistance.Source →
Vitamin E and Doxorubicin Combination in Breast Cancer CellsBreast Cancerlab-studyThe antiproliferative effect of doxorubicin increased significantly in combination with vitamin E (P=0.000).Source →
Combination Therapy Tested in Ovarian Cancer PatientsOvarian Cancerphase-2The overall objective response rate was 8.7%.Source →
New Approach to Target Prostate Cancer with Fewer Side EffectsProstate Cancerlab-study—Source →
Combining Two Drugs in Nanoparticles to Fight Resistant Breast CancerBreast Cancerlab-studyThe (DOX + CUR)-FA-NPs displayed the highest cell apoptosis and cellular uptake in MCF-7/ADR cells.Source →
Camel Urine May Enhance Effectiveness of Cancer TreatmentBreast Cancerlab-study—Source →
Anthracyclines in Patients with Heart Failure and LeukemiaLeukemiaobservational—Source →
Loperamide Sensitizes Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Cells to DoxorubicinBreast Cancerlab-studyAdding Loperamide to Doxorubicin reduced its IC50 by twofolds compared with Doxorubicin alone.Source →
Combining Cisplatinum and Doxorubicin May Help Treat Rare Breast CancerBreast Canceranimal-studyOnly the combination treatment regressed the tumor.Source →
Targeted Nanoparticles Help Deliver Cancer MedicineBreast Cancerlab-study—Source →
MicroRNAs and Doxorubicin Resistance in Breast CancerBreast Cancerreview—Source →
Researchers Develop New Bone Cement to Deliver Cancer-Fighting MedicineLung Canceranimal-study—Source →
Enhancing Doxorubicin's Effect on Breast Cancer with New NanoparticlesBreast Cancerlab-study—Source →
Combining Two Drugs to Treat Advanced Ovarian CancerOvarian Cancerphase-1The overall response rate was 27.8%.Source →
Rare Case of Breast Cancer Patient Survives Twice with ChemotherapyBreast Cancerobservational—Source →
Combining Apigenin and Doxorubicin May Help Treat Prostate CancerProstate Cancerlab-study—Source →
Cancer Protein Silencing May Help Overcome Doxorubicin ResistanceBreast Cancerlab-study—Source →
New Approach to Treating Triple Negative Breast CancerBreast Cancerlab-study—Source →
LRP1B Protein May Help Predict Response to Ovarian Cancer TreatmentOvarian Cancerlab-study—Source →

This information is provided for general education only and is not medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making treatment decisions.