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Vinblastine

Also known as Velban, vincaleukoblastine, VLB, vinblastine sulfate

A vinca alkaloid given by intravenous injection, extracted from the periwinkle plant. Its 2025 US label lists palliative treatment of Hodgkin disease, lymphomas, advanced testicular cancer, Kaposi sarcoma and some other malignancies.

From discovery to approval

  1. 1959 · Earliest report found

    Vinblastine, first called vincaleukoblastine, was isolated from the Madagascar periwinkle (Vinca rosea). Duffin dates the Canadian discovery by Noble and Beer to the 1950s; the earliest papers found that name it are two 1959 papers, a note by Noble, Beer and Cutts and a chemistry paper whose authors include Beer.[2][3][4][5][6][1][7]

  2. 1965-11-25 · FDA regular

    Vinblastine sulfate (Velban), NDA 012665, original approval, classed as a new molecular entity with priority review in the Drugs@FDA history. The original label and letter are not available there, so the indication at approval is not stated here, and the page does not say whether the drug was marketed in the US before this entry (clinical reports on vinblastine date from 1960); the 2025 generic label lists palliative treatment of Hodgkin disease, lymphomas, advanced testicular cancer, Kaposi sarcoma and other malignancies. The type regular is an inference: no accelerated-approval wording was found.[7]

How it works

The label links its action to inhibition of microtubule formation in the mitotic spindle, which arrests dividing cells at the metaphase stage. It adds that the therapeutic responses are not fully explained by the cytological changes seen in cells.[1]

Where it came from and why

A 1990 review by Noble says leaf extracts were reputed in folk medicine to help diabetes, and that attempts to verify this led instead to the discovery and isolation of vinblastine and vincristine. Duffin's history calls the work of Noble and Beer a chance finding and describes similar research at Eli Lilly at the same time.

Vinblastine was found while people were looking for something else. Folk medicine held that extracts of the leaves of Catharanthus roseus, the Madagascar periwinkle, could help diabetes, and a 1990 review says that attempts to verify this led instead to the discovery and isolation of vinblastine and vincristine [2].

Duffin's history describes the 1950s work of Robert Noble and Charles Beer in Canada as a chance finding of an anticancer drug in periwinkle leaves, and uses it to discuss discovery, accidental discovery and priority [3]. The history notes that Eli Lilly was doing similar research at the same time, and that both Noble and Beer were inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame in 1995 [3].

The papers of the period include a 1958 report titled "Role of chance observations in chemotherapy: Vinca rosea" [4], a 1959 note by Noble, Beer and Cutts titled "Further biological activities of vincaleukoblastine" [5], and a 1959 chemistry paper on the characterisation of leurosine and vincaleukoblastine, new alkaloids from the plant; all three were read by title only [6]. The current US label records that the generic name was once vincaleukoblastine [1], and Drugs@FDA dates the first approval of Velban to 25 November 1965 [7].

Cancers

  • Hodgkin disease and other lymphomas

    The 2025 US label lists generalised Hodgkin disease (stages III and IV), lymphocytic and histiocytic lymphoma and advanced mycosis fungoides among the frequently responsive malignancies for palliative treatment.[1]

  • Testicular cancer

    The label lists advanced carcinoma of the testis. Vinblastine was one of three drugs, with cisplatin and bleomycin, in a 1977 series of patients with disseminated testicular cancer.[8]

  • Other malignancies on the label

    The label also lists Kaposi sarcoma and Letterer-Siwe disease (histiocytosis X) as frequently responsive, and choriocarcinoma resistant to other drugs and breast carcinoma unresponsive to endocrine therapy as less frequently responsive.[1]

Family and partners

Drugs derived from it: Vindesine, Vinorelbine

Worth knowing

  • The label says vinblastine was previously called vincaleukoblastine, abbreviated VLB, and is described as a stathmokinetic oncolytic agent.[1]
  • Noble's 1990 review says vinblastine and vincristine are structurally almost identical yet differ markedly in the types of tumour they affect and in their toxic properties.[2]
  • A 1960 Cancer Research paper is titled as a report of some biological effects of vincaleukoblastine in patients with malignant disease; only the title was read.[9]
  • The label says the effect of bleomycin is significantly enhanced when vinblastine is given six to eight hours before it, because more cells are held in metaphase, the phase in which bleomycin is active.[1]
  • Drugs@FDA records the original Velban approval action as 25 November 1965, more than two years after the first vincristine product; clinical reports on vinblastine date from 1960, so the entry may not be its first US availability.[7]

On this site

References

  1. Fresenius Kabi USA, LLC. Vinblastine sulfate injection: prescribing information. DailyMed, set ID f073b58e-56d6-4c8d-a2ce-b37719402d77, published 29 April 2025. Source
  2. Noble RL. The discovery of the vinca alkaloids--chemotherapeutic agents against cancer. Biochem Cell Biol. 1990;68(12):1344-51. PubMed
  3. Duffin J. Poisoning the spindle: serendipity and discovery of the anti-tumor properties of the Vinca alkaloids. Can Bull Med Hist. 2000;17(1-2):155-92. PubMedDOI
  4. NOBLE RL, BEER CT, CUTTS JH. Role of chance observations in chemotherapy: Vinca rosea. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1958;76(3):882-94. PubMedDOI
  5. Noble RL, Beer CT, Cutts JH. Further biological activities of vincaleukoblastine - an alkaloid isolated from Vinca rosea (L.). Biochemical Pharmacology. 1959;1(4):347-348. DOI
  6. Neuss N, Gorman M, Svoboda GH, Maciak G, Beer CT. VINCA ALKALOIDS. III.1 CHARACTERIZATION OF LEUROSINE AND VINCALEUKOBLASTINE, NEW ALKALOIDS FROM VINCA ROSEA LINN. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 1959;81(17):4754-4755. DOI
  7. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Drugs@FDA: Approval date(s) and history, letters, labels, reviews for NDA 012665 (vinblastine sulfate; Velban). Page read 2026-10-29. Source
  8. Einhorn LH, Donohue J. Cis-diamminedichloroplatinum, vinblastine, and bleomycin combination chemotherapy in disseminated testicular cancer. Ann Intern Med. 1977;87(3):293-8. PubMedDOI
  9. WARWICK OH, DARTE JM, BROWN TC, BEER CT, CUTTS JH, NOBLE RL. Some biological effects of Vincaleukoblastine, an alkaloid in Vinca rosea Linn in patients with malignant disease. Cancer Res. 1960;20(7_Part_1):1032-40. PubMed