Gemcitabine is a new pyrimidine chemotherapy drug that is given as a treatment for some types of cancer, such as non-small cell lung cancer, pancreatic, bladder and breast cancer|. ^[1]

Gemcitabine is converted intracellularly to the active metabolites difluorodeoxycytidine di- and triphosphate (dFdCDP, dFdCTP). dFdCDP inhibits ribonucleotide reductase, thereby decreasing the deoxynucleotide pool available for DNA synthesis; dFdCTP is incorporated into DNA, resulting in DNA strand termination and apoptosis. ^[2]

Gemcitabine inhibits proliferation BxPC-3 pancreatic cancer cell line with IC50 of 0.06 µM. ^[3]