Carubicin (also known as Carminomycin) is an anthracycline antineoplastic antibiotic isolated from the bacterium Actinomadura carminata. Carubicin intercalates into DNA and interacts with topoisomerase II, thereby inhibiting DNA replication and repair and RNA and protein synthesis. The drug is active against a variety of experimental tumors. Pharmacology studies in animals revealed that the drug bound largely to serum proteins and that it was widely distributed. In clinical trials The main toxic effect was myelosuppression but gastrointestinal intolerance and alopecia were also reported. Objective partial responses were seen in two of seven previously untreated patients with non-small cell lung cancer and one of three patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck previously untreated with chemotherapy.