Pharmacology of L-asparaginase and the effects of host and enzyme modification

Pharmacology is the study of the properties of a drug with respect to its interaction with the host, toxicology, and with the disease, therapeutics. Since both the toxicology and therapeutic activity of L-asparaginase are presented by others at this symposium, I will give only a brief overview of the pharmacology of L-asparaginase with particular reference to how it differs from other chemotherapeutic agents. Primarily, I would like to discuss how it may be possible to modify some of the pharmacological constraints on the therapeutic responses to L-asparaginase by combining the enzyme with inhibitors of asparagine synthetase and by using polymer-modified forms of the enzyme.