DEPT (medicine)

Directed Enzyme Prodrug Therapy (DEPT) uses enzymes artificially introduced into the body to convert Prodrugs, which have no or poor biological activity, to the active form in the desired location within the body. Many chemotherapy drugs for cancer lack tumour specificity and the doses required to reach therapeutic levels in the tumour are often toxic to other tissues. DEPT strategies are an experimental method of reducing the systemic toxicity of a drug, by achieving high levels of the active drug only at the desired site. This article describes the variations of DEPT technology.