{"entity":{"id":"nimorazole","kind":"drug","name":"Nimorazole","aka":["Naxogin"],"tldr":"Nimorazole is the one hypoxic radiosensitiser in routine use: given with radiotherapy for head and neck cancer in Denmark since the DAHANCA 5 trial improved control, and tested across Europe in patients whose tumours carry a hypoxia gene signature.","summary":"Nimorazole was developed as an anti-infective and repurposed as a hypoxic cell radiosensitiser because it is far better tolerated than the earlier nitroimidazoles misonidazole and etanidazole. DAHANCA 5 showed higher locoregional control with nimorazole than placebo during radiotherapy for supraglottic and pharyngeal cancer, and Danish practice has included it ever since; a later analysis found the benefit confined to tumours with a 15-gene hypoxia signature. The EORTC 1219 and DAHANCA 29 trials tested it with accelerated chemoradiation in the wider European population and in hypoxia-selected patients. It has no oncology marketing authorisation outside Denmark and is used under national guidance.","status":"established","asOf":"2026-09-16","links":[{"label":"Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimorazole"},{"label":"ClinicalTrials.gov: trials of nimorazole","url":"https://clinicaltrials.gov/search?intr=nimorazole"}],"tags":["radiation-wave3"],"related":[],"cancers":["head-and-neck"],"sections":[],"technologies":["radiosensitisers","tumour-hypoxia-modification"],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":["dahanca-5"],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"notes":[],"provenance":{"editedBy":"OnCo radiation expansion","editedOn":"2026-09-16"},"modality":"Hypoxic cell radiosensitiser (nitroimidazole small molecule)","mechanism":"A nitroimidazole that mimics oxygen in hypoxic tumour cells, fixing radiation-induced DNA damage that would otherwise be repaired, so the oxygen-starved cells that normally survive radiotherapy are killed.","approvals":[],"mechanismSteps":[],"toxicity":[],"access":[],"regulatoryEvents":[]},"route":"/drugs/nimorazole/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"head-and-neck","kind":"cancer","name":"Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma","route":"/cancers/head-and-neck/"}],"technology":[{"id":"radiosensitisers","kind":"technology","name":"Radiosensitisers","route":"/technologies/radiosensitisers/"},{"id":"tumour-hypoxia-modification","kind":"technology","name":"Tumour hypoxia: imaging and modification","route":"/technologies/tumour-hypoxia-modification/"}],"trial":[{"id":"dahanca-5","kind":"trial","name":"DAHANCA 5","route":"/trials/dahanca-5/"}]}}