• Alkaloid isolated from the stem wood of the Chinese tree, Camptotheca acuminata; this compound selectively inhibits the nuclear enzyme DNA topoisomerase type I; several semisynthetic analogs of camptothecin have demonstrated antitumor activity.
  CRISP Thesaurus
  National Institutes of Health, 2006
• An alkaloid isolated from the Chinese tree Camptotheca acuminata, with antineoplastic activity. During the S phase of the cell cycle, camptothecin selectively stabilizes topoisomerase I-DNA covalent complexes, thereby inhibiting religation of topoisomerase I-mediated single-strand DNA breaks and producing potentially lethal double-strand DNA breaks when encountered by the DNA replication machinery.
  NCI Thesaurus
  U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
• An alkaloid isolated from the stem wood of the Chinese tree, Camptotheca acuminata. This compound selectively inhibits the nuclear enzyme DNA TOPOISOMERASES, TYPE I. Several semisynthetic analogs of camptothecin have demonstrated antitumor activity.
  NLM Medical Subject Headings
  U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2021
• An anticancer drug that belongs to the family of drugs called topoisomerase inhibitors.
  NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms
  U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021