# Bromocriptine

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

## TL;DR

Bromocriptine was the first pill that could shrink a pituitary tumour. From the 1970s it turned prolactinomas from a surgical disease into one usually controlled with tablets, and it is still used where cabergoline is unavailable or unsuitable.

## Summary

Bromocriptine is an ergot-derived dopamine agonist developed by Sandoz (now Novartis). The FDA approved it in 1978 for hyperprolactinaemia-associated disorders, acromegaly and Parkinson's disease. Taken two or three times daily, it normalises prolactin, restores fertility and shrinks most prolactinomas, establishing medical therapy as the first-line treatment for these tumours.

It is now largely superseded by cabergoline, which is more potent, better tolerated and taken once or twice a week, but it remains the preferred agent when pregnancy is planned because of its longer safety record. The pituitary tumours page records it as the drug that established medical therapy for prolactinoma.

## Fields

- Kind: Treatment
- Status: approved
- Last checked: 2026-09-17
- Also known as: Bromocriptine mesylate
- Tags: subtype-drugs-wave
- Brand: Parlodel
- Modality: Oral ergot dopamine D2 receptor agonist
- Mechanism: Stimulates dopamine D2 receptors on pituitary lactotroph cells, which switches off prolactin secretion and shrinks prolactin-secreting adenomas; it also lowers growth hormone in some acromegaly.
- Approvals: US 1978: Hyperprolactinaemia-associated dysfunction including prolactin-secreting adenomas; acromegaly; Parkinson's disease

## Sources

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

## Connected records

- drugs: [Cabergoline](https://onco.cc/drugs/cabergoline/)
- cancers: [Pituitary tumours (pituitary neuroendocrine tumours) and pituitary carcinoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/pituitary-tumours/)
- targets: [Dopamine D2 receptor](https://onco.cc/targets/drd2/)
- companies: [Novartis](https://onco.cc/companies/novartis/)

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