# Cabergoline

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

## TL;DR

Cabergoline is a tablet taken once or twice a week that shrinks prolactin-secreting pituitary tumours and normalises hormone levels in most patients, so surgery is reserved for the few whose tumours resist or who cannot tolerate it.

## Summary

Cabergoline is an ergoline dopamine agonist developed by Farmitalia Carlo Erba, later Pharmacia and now Pfizer. The FDA approved it in 1996 for hyperprolactinaemic disorders. Its long half-life allows dosing once or twice weekly, and it normalises prolactin in roughly 80 to 90 percent of patients and shrinks macroprolactinomas in most, with less nausea than bromocriptine.

It is the first-line treatment for prolactinoma of any size; transsphenoidal surgery is reserved for resistance, intolerance or cystic tumours compressing the optic chiasm. High doses used in Parkinson's disease were linked to cardiac valve fibrosis, so echocardiographic monitoring is advised on long-term higher doses. The pituitary tumours page names it as the standard treatment for prolactinomas.

## Fields

- Kind: Treatment
- Status: approved
- Last checked: 2026-09-17
- Also known as: Cabaser
- Tags: subtype-drugs-wave
- Brand: Dostinex
- Modality: Oral long-acting dopamine D2 receptor agonist
- Mechanism: A potent, long-acting dopamine D2 agonist that suppresses prolactin release from pituitary lactotrophs and shrinks prolactinomas, taken only once or twice a week.
- Approvals: US 1996: Hyperprolactinaemic disorders, idiopathic or due to pituitary adenomas

## Sources

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

## Connected records

- drugs: [Bromocriptine](https://onco.cc/drugs/bromocriptine/)
- 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: [Pfizer (incl. Seagen)](https://onco.cc/companies/pfizer/)

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