Methotrexate (Oral Route, Injection Route)

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Methotrexate (Oral Route, Injection Route)

US Brand Names

Description

Methotrexate belongs to the group of medicines known as antimetabolites. It is used to treat cancer of the breast, head and neck, lung, blood, bone, and lymph, and tumors in the uterus. It may also be used to treat other kinds of cancer, as determined by your doctor.

Methotrexate blocks an enzyme needed by the cell to live. This interferes with the growth of cancer cells, which are eventually destroyed. Since the growth of normal body cells may also be affected by methotrexate, other effects will also occur. Some of these may be serious and must be reported to your doctor. Other effects, like hair loss, may not be serious but may cause concern. Some effects may not occur for months or years after the medicine is used.

Before you begin treatment with methotrexate, you and your doctor should talk about the good this medicine will do as well as the risks of using it.

Methotrexate is available only with your doctor's prescription.

Once a medicine has been approved for marketing for a certain use, experience may show that it is also useful for other medical problems. Although these uses are not included in product labeling, methotrexate is used in certain patients with the following medical conditions:

• Acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (a type of cancer of the blood and lymph system)
• Cancer in the membranes that cover and protect the brain and spinal cord (the meninges)
• Cancer of the bladder
• Cancer of the brain (lymphoma)
• Cancer of the cervix
• Cancer of colon and rectum
• Cancer of the esophagus
• Cancer of the ovaries
• Cancer of the pancreas
• Cancer of the penis
• Cancers of the soft tissues of the body, including the muscles, connective tissues (tendons), vessels that carry blood or lymph, or fat
• Cancer of the stomach
• Hodgkin's lymphoma (a cancer of the lymph system, a part of the body's immune system)

This product is available in the following dosage forms:

• Tablet
• Solution
• Powder for Solution
• Injectable

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