ReviewMedical sciences (Basel, Switzerland)2018
Alpha-Difluoromethylornithine, an Irreversible Inhibitor of Polyamine Biosynthesis, as a Therapeutic Strategy against Hyperproliferative and Infectious Diseases.
Review in Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland), 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 43 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
43 citing papers in PubMed, 64 citations in OpenAlex.
- STELLAR: Phase III, Randomized, Open-Label Study of Eflornithine Plus Lomustine Versus Lomustine Alone in Patients With Recurrent Grade 3 Astrocytoma.Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology · 2026Trial
- Inhibition of polyamine biosynthesis preserves β cell function in type 1 diabetes.Cell reports. Medicine · 2023Trial
- Covalent Inhibitors in Antimicrobial Drug Development-Beyond β-Lactams.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Genetic and Phenotypic Features of the Five Known Polyaminopathies: A Critical Narrative Review.American journal of medical genetics. Part A · 2026Review
- Why the COPD Microbiome Matters: How Airway Microbes Shape Disease Severity and Treatment Response.International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease · 2026Review
- Article
- Defence Warriors: Exploring the crosstalk between polyamines and oxidative stress during microbial pathogenesis.Redox biology · 2025Review
- Astrocytic Ornithine Decarboxylase 1 in Alzheimer's Disease.Experimental neurobiology · 2025Review
- Putrescine Depletion inPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Structure simulation-based comparison of active site variations in fungal ornithine decarboxylases.Communicative & integrative biology · 2025Article
- Polyamine Anabolism Promotes Chemotherapy-Induced Breast Cancer Stem Cell Enrichment.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2024Article
- Spermidine metabolism regulates leukemia stem and progenitor cell function through KAT7 expression in patient-derived mouse models.Science translational medicine · 2024Article
- DFMO inhibition of neuroblastoma tumorigenesis.Cancer medicine · 2024Article
- Asymmetric α-Fluoroalkyl-α-Amino Acids: Recent Advances in Their Synthesis and Applications.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Drug Repurposing in the Chemotherapy of Infectious Diseases.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Polyamine Metabolism for Drug Intervention in Trypanosomatids.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Polyamine Signal through HCC Microenvironment: A Key Regulator of Mitochondrial Preservation and Turnover in TAMs.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Positive Regulation of S-Adenosylmethionine on Chondrocytic Differentiation via Stimulation of Polyamine Production and the Gene Expression of Chondrogenic Differentiation Factors.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- DMSO-tolerant ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) tandem assay optimised for high-throughput screening.Journal of enzyme inhibition and medicinal chemistry · 2023Article
- Difluoromethylornithine rebalances aberrant polyamine ratios in Snyder-Robinson syndrome.EMBO molecular medicine · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The fluorinated ornithine analog α-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO, eflornithine, ornidyl) is an irreversible suicide inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), the first and rate-limiting enzyme of polyamine biosynthesis. The ubiquitous and essential polyamines have many functions, but are primarily important for rapidly proliferating cells. Thus, ODC is potentially a drug target for any disease state where rapid growth is a key process leading to pathology. The compound was originally discovered as an anticancer drug, but its effectiveness was disappointing. However, DFMO was successfully developed to treat African sleeping sickness and is currently one of few clinically used drugs to combat this neglected tropical disease. The other Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved application for DFMO is as an active ingredient in the hair removal cream Vaniqa. In recent years, renewed interest in DFMO for hyperproliferative diseases has led to increased research and promising preclinical and clinical trials. This review explores the use of DFMO for the treatment of African sleeping sickness and hirsutism, as well as its potential as a chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic agent against colorectal cancer and neuroblastoma.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.