Pharmacologic Substance
oblimersen sodium
[ oh-blih-mer-sen soh-dee-um ]
Definitions related to oblimersen sodium:
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A substance being studied in the treatment of cancer. It may kill cancer cells by blocking the production of a protein that makes cancer cells live longer and by making them more sensitive to anticancer drugs. It is a type of antisense oligodeoxyribonucleotide.NCI Dictionary of Cancer TermsU.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
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The sodium salt of a phosphorothioate antisense oligonucleotide targeted to the initiation codon region of mRNA for the anti-apoptotic gene Bcl-2. Oblimersen inhibits Bcl-2 mRNA translation, which may result in decreased expression of the Bcl-2 protein and tumor cell apoptosis. This agent may enhance the efficacy of standard cytotoxic chemotherapy. The anti-apoptotic bcl-2 protein is an integral outer mitochondrial membrane protein (OMMP) that is overexpressed in some cancer cell types and is linked to tumor drug resistance.NCI ThesaurusU.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
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