Flutamide, sold under the brand name Eulexin among others, is a nonsteroidal antiandrogen (NSAA) which is used primarily to treat prostate cancer.[9][10] It is also used in the treatment of androgen-dependent conditions like acne, excessive hair growth, and high androgen levels in women.[11] It is taken by mouth, usually three times per day.[12]
Side effects in men include breast tenderness and enlargement, feminization, sexual dysfunction, and hot flashes. Conversely, the medication has fewer side effects and is better-tolerated in women with the most common side effect being dry skin. Diarrhea and elevated liver enzymes can occur in both sexes. Rarely, flutamide can cause liver damage, lung disease, sensitivity to light, elevated methemoglobin, elevated sulfhemoglobin, and deficient neutrophils.[13][14][15][16] Numerous cases of liver failure and death have been reported, which has limited the use of flutamide.[13]
Flutamide acts as a selective antagonist of the androgen receptor (AR), competing with androgens like testosterone and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) for binding to ARs in tissues like the prostate gland. By doing so, it prevents their effects and stops them from stimulating prostate cancer cells to grow. Flutamide is a prodrug to a more active form. Flutamide and its active form stay in the body for a relatively short time, which makes it necessary to take flutamide multiple times per day.[citation needed]
Flutamide was first described in 1967 and was first introduced for medical use in 1983.[17] It became available in the United States in 1989. The medication has largely been replaced by newer and improved NSAAs, namely bicalutamide and enzalutamide, due to their better efficacy, tolerability, safety, and dosing frequency (once per day), and is now relatively little-used.[5][18] It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines.[19]
^"FDA-sourced list of all drugs with black box warnings (Use Download Full Results and View Query links.)". nctr-crs.fda.gov. FDA. Retrieved 22 Oct 2023.
^ abcdef"Flutamide Capsules USP".
^Cite error: The named reference pmid10495361 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abcdCite error: The named reference ChabnerLongo2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abGulley JL (2011). Prostate Cancer. Demos Medical Publishing. pp. 81–. ISBN 978-1-935281-91-7.
^Lemke TL, Williams DA (24 January 2012). Foye's Principles of Medicinal Chemistry. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. pp. 1373–. ISBN 978-1-60913-345-0.
^Cite error: The named reference DenisGriffiths1999 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference Lehne2013 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Index Nominum 2000: International Drug Directory. Taylor & Francis. January 2000. pp. 466–. ISBN 978-3-88763-075-1.
^Elks J (14 November 2014). The Dictionary of Drugs: Chemical Data: Chemical Data, Structures and Bibliographies. Springer. pp. 573–. ISBN 978-1-4757-2085-3.
^Mungadi IA, Shittu OB, Abdulwahab-Ahmed A (30 November 2013). "Prostate Cancer". In Mungadi IA, Mbibu HN, Eltahawy E, Abdulwahab-Ahmed A (eds.). Manual of Medical Treatment in Urology. JP Medical Ltd. pp. 120–. ISBN 978-93-5090-844-0.
^ abCite error: The named reference pmid28379593 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference pmid12353966 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference Aronson2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^McLeod DG (1997). "Tolerability of Nonsteroidal Antiandrogens in the Treatment of Advanced Prostate Cancer". The Oncologist. 2 (1): 18–27. doi:10.1634/theoncologist.2-1-18. PMID 10388026.
^Fischer J, Ganellin CR (2006). Analogue-based Drug Discovery. John Wiley & Sons. p. 515. ISBN 9783527607495.
^Wirth MP, Hakenberg OW, Froehner M (1 January 2008). "Adjuvant Hormonal Treatment - The Bicalutamide Early Prostate Cancer Program". In Moser L (ed.). Controversies in the Treatment of Prostate Cancer. Karger Medical and Scientific Publishers. pp. 41–42. ISBN 978-3-8055-8524-8. Latest studies suggest that [flutamide] also reduces adrenal and ovarian androgen synthesis [58,59]. [...] No alteration in the hormone levels has been observed in patients treated with flutamide for 6 or 12 months [61,62]. However in other studies flutamide decreased circulating concentrations of DHEAS as well as androstenedione, total testosterone and 3a-androstanediol glucuronide, in young women with PCOS [41,59]. These effects may be due to inhibition of adrenal 17-20 lyase [17,63]. Although there was no effect on gonadotropin response to GnRH, basal levels of FSH showed a rise associated with a small fall of LH [64].
^World Health Organization (2021). World Health Organization model list of essential medicines: 22nd list (2021). Geneva: World Health Organization. hdl:10665/345533. WHO/MHP/HPS/EML/2021.02.
Flutamide, sold under the brand name Eulexin among others, is a nonsteroidal antiandrogen (NSAA) which is used primarily to treat prostate cancer. It...
and other parameters. Relative to the other first-generation NSAAs, flutamide and nilutamide, bicalutamide shows improved potency, efficacy, tolerability...
have been reported with flutamide relative to bicalutamide (e.g., 9.8% anemia rate with flutamide plus a GnRH agonist). Flutamide has been associated with...
rats. To further test the role of activated androgen receptors on AHN, flutamide, an antiandrogen drug that competes with testosterone and dihydrotestosterone...
clearing of acne with flutamide [62,77]. Flutamide used in combination with an [oral contraceptive], at a dose of 500mg/d, flutamide caused a dramatic decrease...
clearing of acne with flutamide [62,77]. Flutamide used in combination with an [oral contraceptive], at a dose of 500mg/d, flutamide caused a dramatic decrease...
enzalutamide, have largely replaced the earlier nonsteroidal antiandrogens flutamide and nilutamide, which are now little used. The earlier androgen synthesis...
medications: Bicalutamide: A pure antiandrogen. It is effective similarly to flutamide but is much safer as well as better-tolerated. Birth control pills that...
dermatitis, antiandrogens, such as cyproterone acetate, spironolactone, flutamide, and nilutamide, are highly effective in alleviating the condition. As...
include ketoconazole, and in female androgenic alopecia spironolactone and flutamide. In June 2022, the FDA authorized baricitinib for the treatment of severe...
reported satisfaction with the control of their acne with flutamide. Although effective, flutamide has a risk of serious liver toxicity, and cases of death...
estrogens used for prostate cancer, and antiandrogens such as bicalutamide, flutamide, and spironolactone. Drugs with fair evidence for association with gynecomastia...
clinical research has found that flutamide is more effective than spironolactone in the treatment of acne. In one study, flutamide decreased acne scores by 80%...
and analogue of the NSAA flutamide, and shows greater in vivo antiandrogenic potency than does flutamide. Similarly to flutamide, AA560 is a selective antagonist...
a nonsteroidal antiandrogen (NSAA) and the major active metabolite of flutamide, which is considered to be a prodrug of hydroxyflutamide as the active...
as an antiandrogen relative to so-called "first-generation" NSAAs like flutamide and bicalutamide. The drug has only 2-fold lower affinity for the AR than...
second-generation NSAA enzalutamide but unlike first-generation NSAAs like flutamide and bicalutamide, elevated liver enzymes and hepatotoxicity have not been...
modulators) like leuprorelin and degarelix, nonsteroidal antiandrogens like flutamide and bicalutamide, the diuretic and steroidal antiandrogen spironolactone...