Dactinomycin

Dactinomycin, often called Actinomycin D®, one of the early trade names for this drug, is an antibiotic with inhibitory effects on Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria that works by inhibiting RNA polymerase. It is often used to study molecular biology because of this property but seldom for the treatment of bacterial infections due to its cytotoxic properties. However, the antineoplastic effects of the actinomycins make them useful for the treatment of some cancers, including Wilm's tumor, Ewing's sarcoma, testicular cancer and rhabdomyosarcoma as part of a combination chemotherapy.