chemistry

Lurbinectedin

Lurbinectedin is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Lurbinectedin rather than just read about it. In short: Lurbinectedin, sold under the brand name Zepzelca, is a medication used for the treatment of small cell lung cancer. Lurbinectedin is a synthetic tetrahydropyrrolo [4,3,2-de]quinolin-8(1H)-one alkaloid analogue with potential antineoplastic activity.

Key takeaways

Lurbinectedin belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Lurbinectedin to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Lurbinectedin from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Lurbinectedin, sold under the brand name Zepzelca, is a medication used for the treatment of small cell lung cancer. Lurbinectedin is a synthetic tetrahydropyrrolo [4,3,2-de]quinolin-8(1H)-one alkaloid analogue with potential antineoplastic activity. Lurbinectedin covalently binds to residues lying in the minor groove of DNA, which may result in delayed progression through S phase, cell cycle arrest in the G2/M phase and cell death. The most common side effects include leukopenia, lymphopenia, fatigue, anemia, neutropenia, increased creatinine, increased alanine aminotransferase, increased glucose, thrombocytopenia, nausea, decreased appetite, musculoskeletal pain, decreased albumin, constipation, dyspnea, decreased sodium, increased aspartate aminotransferase, vomiting, cough, decreased magnesium and diarrhea. Lurbinectedin was approved for medical use in the United States in June 2020.

Medical uses Lurbinectedin is indicated for the treatment of adults with metastatic small cell lung cancer with disease progression on or after platinum-based chemotherapy. In October 2025, the indication for lurbinectedin was expanded to include using lurbinectedin in combination with atezolizumab or in combination with atezolizumab/hyaluronidase for the maintenance treatment of adults with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer whose disease has not progressed after first-line induction therapy with atezolizumab or atezolizumab and hyaluronidase, carboplatin, and etoposide.

Adverse effects The US prescribing information for lurbinectedin includes warnings and precautions for myelosuppression, hepatotoxicity, extravasation resulting in tissue necrosis, rhabdomyolysis, and embryo-fetal toxicity. The prescribing information for atezolizumab and for atezolizumab/hyaluronidase include warnings and precautions for severe and fatal immune-mediated adverse reactions, infusion-related reactions, complications of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, and embryo-fetal toxicity.

Structure Lurbinectedin is structurally similar to trabectedin, although the tetrahydroisoquinoline present in trabectedin is replaced with a tetrahydro β-carboline which enables lurbinectedin to exhibit increased antitumor activity compared with trabectedin.

Synthesis Synthesis of lurbinectedin starts from small, common starting materials that require twenty-six individual steps to produce the drug with overall yield of 1.6%.

Mechanism of action According to PharmaMar, lurbinectedin inhibits the active transcription of the encoding genes. This has two consequences. It promotes tumor cell death and normalizes the tumor microenvironment. Active transcription is the process by which there are specific signal where information contained in the DNA sequence is transferred to an RNA molecule. This activity depends on the activity of an enzyme called RNA polymerase II. Lurbinectedin inhibits transcription through a very precise mechanism. Firstly, lurbinectedin binds to specific DNA sequences. It is at these precise spots that RNA polymerase II slides down the DNA to produce RNA that is blocked and degraded by lurbinectedin. Lurbinectedin also has important role in tumor microenvironment. The tumor cells act upon macrophages to avoid them from behaving like an activator of the immune system. Macrophages can contribute to tumor growth and progression by promoting tumor cell proliferation and invasion, fostering tumor angiogenesis and suppressing antitumor immune cells.

History Lurbinectedin was approved for medical use in the United States in June 2020. Efficacy was demonstrated in the PM1183-B-005-14 trial (Study B-005; NCT02454972), a multi-center open-label, multi-cohort study enrolling 105 participants with metastatic small cell lung cancer who had disease progression on or after platinum-based chemotherapy. Participants received lurbinectedin 3.2 mg/m2 by intravenous infusion every 21 days until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. The trial was conducted at 26 sites in the United States, Great Britain, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain and Czech Republic. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted the application for lurbinectedin priority review and orphan drug designations and granted the approval of Zepzelca to Pharma Mar S.A. The efficacy of lurbinectedin used in combination with atezolizumab or in combination with atezolizumab/hyaluronidase was evaluated in IMforte (NCT05091567), a randomized, multi-center, open-label trial in participants receiving first-line treatment for extensive-stage small cell lung cancer. In IMforte, 483 participants with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer whose disease had not progressed after completion of four cycles of atezolizumab, carboplatin, and etoposide (induction treatment) were randomized (1:1) to receive either lurbinectedin in combination with atezolizumab administered intravenously or atezolizumab intravenously alone until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. In October 2025, the FDA approved a combination of atezolizumab, hyaluronidase, and lurbinectedin for the treatment of adults with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer.

References

External links "Lurbinectedin". NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms. National Cancer Institute. Clinical trial number NCT02454972 for "Clinical Trial of Lurbinectedin (PM01183) in Selected Advanced Solid Tumors" at ClinicalTrials.gov

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Lurbinectedin

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Lurbinectedin claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Lurbinectedin before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Lurbinectedin ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Lurbinectedin

In research: Lurbinectedin appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Lurbinectedin in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Lurbinectedin is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Acetate esters, Antineoplastic drugs, Heterocyclic compounds with 7 or more rings, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Lurbinectedin outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Lurbinectedin in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Lurbinectedin means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Lurbinectedin out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lurbinectedin in simple terms?

Why does Lurbinectedin matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Lurbinectedin?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Lurbinectedin.