Vincristine Clinical Uses, Pharmacokinetics, and Impacts on Health

Vincristine is a naturally occurring alkaloid isolated from the leaves of the plant Catharanthus roseus. It has a wide range of clinical applications. Extracts of the plant have found application in wound healing, in the treatment of diabetic ulcers and diabetes mellitus, and in cancer chemotherapy. In this book, the authors discuss the clinical uses, pharmacokinetics and impacts on health of Vincristine. Topics discussed include Vincristine as an inductor of drug resistance marker expression in neoplastic cells; clinical utility of Vincristine in the treatment of human carcinomas; inadvertent intrathecal administration of Vincristine; and Vincristine's mechanism of anti-tumor activity.