How Does Gemcitabine Work?
Gemcitabine is part of a group of medications called antimetabolites. Antimetabolites are medications that are very similar to naturally occurring chemicals in the body that cells use to build DNA and other important parts of the cell. Antimetabolites are similar enough to these chemicals that cells mistake them for the real chemicals, using them to build DNA. However, antimetabolites are different enough that DNA (or other cell structures) built using them will not function properly. Since DNA is essential for cells to grow and multiply, antimetabolite medications prevent cell growth and multiplication and may cause cell death.
