# Calicheamicin

Source: https://onco.cc/terms/calicheamicin/  
OnCo record `calicheamicin` (Term). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Calicheamicin is an enediyne antibiotic used as an antibody-drug conjugate payload: it binds the minor groove of DNA and cuts both strands at picomolar concentrations, about a thousand times more cytotoxic than conventional chemotherapy. That is why it is only given attached to an antibody (Mylotarg, Besponsa), and why liver toxicity, including veno-occlusive disease, is its defining risk.

## Summary

Calicheamicin binds the minor groove and, once its enediyne core rearranges, cuts both strands of DNA. It is released by an acid-cleavable hydrazone linker in the lysosome. Gemtuzumab ozogamicin (CD33, acute myeloid leukaemia) and inotuzumab ozogamicin (CD22, acute lymphoblastic leukaemia) carry it. Hepatotoxicity, including veno-occlusive disease especially around stem-cell transplant, is the characteristic risk.

## Fields

- Kind: Term
- Last checked: 2026-09-09
- Also known as: ozogamicin payload; N-acetyl gamma calicheamicin; ozogamicin (N-acetyl-γ-calicheamicin)

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calicheamicin
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calicheamicin

## Connected records

- technologies: [Antibody-drug conjugate (ADC)](https://onco.cc/technologies/adc/)
- drugs: [Gemtuzumab ozogamicin](https://onco.cc/drugs/gemtuzumab-ozogamicin/)
- terms: [Acid-labile hydrazone (AcBut)](https://onco.cc/terms/hydrazone/), [DNA cleaver payloads (enediynes)](https://onco.cc/terms/dna-cleaver-payloads/), [Payload (ADC)](https://onco.cc/terms/payload/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/calicheamicin.json