# Diazoxide

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

## TL;DR

Diazoxide is a medicine that stops insulin-producing tumours releasing insulin. It is used to control dangerous low blood sugar from an insulinoma while the patient is prepared for surgery or when the tumour cannot be removed.

## Summary

Diazoxide is a non-diuretic benzothiadiazine that inhibits insulin secretion by opening potassium channels in beta cells; it is licensed as an oral suspension for hypoglycaemia due to hyperinsulinism, including insulinoma and islet cell hyperplasia. Taken two or three times daily, it raises blood glucose within hours and is the first-line medical treatment for insulinoma symptoms before surgery or when surgery is not possible.

Fluid retention, hirsutism and nausea limit its use, and a thiazide diuretic is often added. Everolimus is the alternative when diazoxide fails, because mTOR inhibition also suppresses insulin release in malignant insulinoma. The pancreatic neuroendocrine tumour page names it for controlling hypoglycaemia before insulinoma surgery.

## Fields

- Kind: Treatment
- Status: established
- Last checked: 2026-09-17
- Also known as: Diazoxide oral suspension
- Tags: subtype-drugs-wave
- Brand: Proglycem
- Modality: Oral potassium-channel opener that suppresses insulin hormone release
- Mechanism: Opens ATP-sensitive potassium channels in pancreatic beta cells and insulinoma cells, preventing the depolarisation that triggers insulin release, so blood glucose rises.

## Sources

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

## Connected records

- drugs: [Everolimus](https://onco.cc/drugs/everolimus/)
- cancers: [Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours](https://onco.cc/cancers/pancreatic-net/)

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