Dexamethasone
Dexamethasone is a powerful steroid tablet or injection. In cancer it kills lymphoid tumour cells as part of myeloma, leukaemia and lymphoma regimens, and it is the single most used drug for preventing chemotherapy sickness and reducing brain swelling.
Overview
Dexamethasone was approved in 1958 and is labelled for palliative management of leukaemias and lymphomas among dozens of inflammatory indications; in oncology it is the steroid of virtually every multiple myeloma regimen (with bortezomib, lenalidomide, daratumumab and the newer antibodies), of paediatric ALL induction where it replaced prednisone in several protocols, and of the R-CHOP-like and hyper-CVAD regimens. Hemady (20 mg tablets, 2019) is a US product labelled specifically for multiple myeloma, and Neofordex (40 mg tablets) was authorised in the EU in 2016 for the same disease. It is also first-line antiemetic prophylaxis, the standard for tumour-associated brain oedema and spinal cord compression, and a premedication for taxanes and pemetrexed. Hyperglycaemia, insomnia, myopathy, infection and adrenal suppression follow prolonged use.
Approvals
| Region | Year | Indication |
|---|---|---|
| US | 1958 | Palliative management of leukaemias and lymphomas; inflammatory and allergic conditions |
| US | 2019 | Multiple myeloma in combination with other antimyeloma products (Hemady) |
| EU | 2016 | Multiple myeloma in combination (Neofordex) |
Safety
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Latest papers
topQuery for this drug: (TITLE:"Dexamethasone" OR ABSTRACT:"Dexamethasone" OR TITLE:"Decadron" OR ABSTRACT:"Decadron" OR TITLE:"historic" OR ABSTRACT:"historic" OR TITLE:"Hemady" OR ABSTRACT:"Hemady" OR TITLE:"Neofordex" OR ABSTRACT:"Neofordex") AND (cancer OR tumor OR tumour OR oncology OR carcinoma OR lymphoma OR leukemia OR leukaemia OR myeloma OR sarcoma OR melanoma OR glioma). Results are unfiltered search hits about Dexamethasone, not a curated reading list.
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