Dacarbazine Injection

• Type: Chemotherapy medication

• Drug Class: Alkylating agent (triazene derivative)

• Form: Sterile powder for reconstitution, given intravenously (IV)

How It Works

• Dacarbazine is a prodrug that becomes active in the liver.

• The active form adds alkyl groups to DNA, causing DNA damage and preventing cancer cells from dividing.

• This leads to cancer cell death, especially in rapidly growing tumors.

Common Uses

Dacarbazine is used to treat certain cancers, including:

• Hodgkin’s lymphoma (part of the ABVD regimen: Adriamycin, Bleomycin, Vinblastine, Dacarbazine)

• Malignant melanoma (one of the first-line chemotherapies, though newer drugs are now preferred)

• Soft tissue sarcomas (in selected cases, often combined with other drugs)

Advantages

• Important drug for Hodgkin’s lymphoma, with high cure rates when used in combination therapy

• Can shrink tumors in metastatic melanoma and some sarcomas

• Generally well tolerated compared to some other alkylating agents

Possible Side Effects

Like other chemotherapy drugs, dacarbazine can cause side effects:

Common

• Nausea and vomiting (can be severe but controlled with antiemetics)

• Loss of appetite

• Fatigue, weakness

Bone Marrow Suppression

• Low white blood cell count (risk of infection)

• Low platelets (risk of bleeding)

• Anemia

Other

• Flu-like symptoms (fever, muscle aches) after infusion

• Hair thinning (less common than with some other chemo drugs)

• Rare: liver toxicity or photosensitivity (skin more sensitive to sunlight)

Precautions

• Blood counts must be monitored regularly

• Good antiemetic premedication is usually given to control nausea

• Protect skin from sun exposure during treatment (to prevent photosensitivity reactions)

• Dose adjustments may be needed for liver or kidney impairment

• Should only be used under supervision of an oncologist