Details

Dacarbazine is a cancer medication that interferes with the growth and spread of cancer cells in the body. Dacarbazine is used to treat skin cancer (malignant melanoma) and Hodgkin's disease. Avoid eating anything for 4 to 6 hours before your injection. Dacarbazine can lower blood cells that help your body fight infections and help your blood to clot. You may get an infection or bleed more easily. Dacarbazine is sometimes given daily for 5 to 10 days in a row every 3 or 4 weeks. For Hodgkin's disease, you may only receive dacarbazine for 1 day every 15 days.

Typical Uses

Dacarbazine is used to treat certain types of cancer, such as skin cancer that has spread (metastatic malignant melanoma) and Hodgkin's disease. It is a cancer chemotherapy drug that is used alone or with other medications to slow or stop cancer cell growth.

Side Effects

Some of the side effects of dacarbazine include severe or continued vomiting fever, chills, body aches, flu symptoms easy bruising, unusual bleeding (nose, mouth, vagina, or rectum), purple or red pinpoint spots under your skin pale skin, feeling light-headed or short of breath, rapid heart rate, trouble concentrating nausea, upper stomach pain, itching, loss of appetite, dark urine, clay-coloured stools, jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes) loss of appetite diarrhoea temporary hair loss mild skin rash or numbness, warmth, redness, or tingly feeling in your face.

Drug Interactions

• Dacarbazine+adalimumab- Using adalimumab together with dacarbazine may increase the risk of serious and potentially life-threatening infections. Talk to your doctor if you have any questions or concerns. Your doctor may already be aware of the risks, but has determined that this is the best course of treatment for you and has taken appropriate precautions and is monitoring you closely for any potential complications.

• Dacarbazine+aldesleukin- Using aldesleukin together with dacarbazine may increase the risk of a potentially fatal condition known as tumour lyses syndrome, which is associated with certain electrolyte and chemical imbalances in the blood and kidney failure. In addition, using these medications together or one after the other has occasionally been associated with serious allergic reactions.

• Dacarbazine+certolizumab- Using dacarbazine together with certolizumab may increase the risk of serious and potentially life-threatening infections. Talk to your doctor if you have any questions or concerns.

• Dacarbazine+clozapine- Using clozapine together with dacarbazine is not recommended. Clozapine can lower white blood cell count and combining it with other medications that can also affect bone marrow function such as dacarbazine may increase the risk. You may be more likely to develop serious and potentially life-threatening infections as a result.

• Dacarbazine+deferiprone- Deferiprone can lower white blood cell count, and c

Mechanism of action

Dacarbazine belongs to a class of medications known as purine analogs. It works by slowing or stopping the growth of cancer cells in the body.

Pregnancy Category : C