# Allopurinol

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

## TL;DR

Allopurinol is a long-established tablet, also given by drip, that lowers the body's production of uric acid. When treatment breaks down a large number of cancer cells quickly, uric acid can build up and harm the kidneys; allopurinol is used to prevent and manage this.

## Summary

Allopurinol is on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines among the supportive medicines for cancer, for tumour lysis syndrome, as 100 mg and 300 mg tablets and a 500 mg powder for injection; it was added for that use in 2007 (WHO Technical Report Series 950), having first been listed in 1977 for gout (TRS 615). In the US the injection (Aloprim) is indicated for adults and children with leukaemia, lymphoma and solid tumours who are receiving cancer therapy that raises uric acid in the blood and urine and who cannot take it by mouth; the label gives 1966 as the initial US approval of allopurinol. It lowers uric acid production rather than removing uric acid that is already there, which is what rasburicase does. The Aloprim injection label cited here is held by Mylan Institutional LLC and names Aloprim as a trademark of Mylan Teoranta, a Viatris company.

## Fields

- Kind: Treatment
- Status: approved
- Last checked: 2026-11-03
- Also known as: allopurinol; allopurinol sodium; Zyloprim; Aloprim
- Tags: universe-gap; who-eml; supportive
- Brand: Zyloprim / Aloprim
- Modality: Small-molecule xanthine oxidase inhibitor (tablet and injection)
- Mechanism: A structural analogue of the purine base hypoxanthine; allopurinol and its metabolite oxypurinol inhibit xanthine oxidase, the enzyme that turns hypoxanthine and xanthine into uric acid, so less uric acid is made (US label, section 12.1).
- Approvals: WHO 2007: Essential Medicines List, supportive medicines for cancer: tumour lysis syndrome; US 1966: Initial US approval of allopurinol (Aloprim label); the injection is indicated for raised uric acid from cancer therapy in leukaemia, lymphoma and solid tumours when oral therapy is not tolerated

## Sources

- WHO eEML: Allopurinol: https://list.essentialmeds.org/medicines/71
- US label: Aloprim injection (DailyMed): https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=10cc918f-aa44-415b-932d-2404695ac449

## Connected records

- drugs: [Rasburicase](https://onco.cc/drugs/rasburicase/)
- targets: [Xanthine oxidase (XDH)](https://onco.cc/targets/xdh/)
- terms: [Tumour lysis syndrome (TLS)](https://onco.cc/terms/tumor-lysis-syndrome/)

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