Which type of chemotherapy drug interferes with nucleic acid synthesis?

Antimetabolites are a class of chemotherapy drugs that directly interfere with nucleic acid synthesis by mimicking the building blocks of DNA and RNA. They work by inhibiting enzymes critical for the metabolism of nucleic acids, leading to disrupted cellular replication and growth, particularly in rapidly dividing cancer cells. This is essential because cancer cells often have high rates of proliferation, and targeting this process can help to control tumor growth.

For example, drugs like methotrexate, which is an antimetabolite, inhibit dihydrofolate reductase, an enzyme necessary for the synthesis of purines and thymidylate, thus preventing DNA synthesis. Similarly, drugs such as gemcitabine and 5-fluorouracil also interfere with nucleic acid metabolism and are commonly used in the treatment of various cancers.

Cytotoxic antibiotics may also have some impact on nucleic acids, but their primary mechanism involves the disruption of DNA functions through the intercalation of DNA strands. Mitotic inhibitors, on the other hand, work primarily by disrupting the mitotic spindle and halting cell division, while hormone antagonists focus on blocking the action of hormones that stimulate tumor growth. Each of these drug classes targets different aspects of cancer cell biology