dacarbazine dacarbazine dacarbazine (dtic), also known as imidazole carboxamide, is a chemotherapy medication used in the treatment of melanoma and hodgkin's lymphoma. for hodgkin's it is often used together with vinblastine, bleomycin, and doxorubicin. it is given by injection into a vein. dacarbazineclinical datapronunciation/dəˈkɑːrbəˌziːn/ trade namesdtic-dome, othersahfs/drugs.commonographmedlineplusa682750routes ofadministrationivatc codel01ax04 (who) legal statuslegal status in general: ℞ (prescription only) pharmacokinetic databioavailability100% (iv)metabolismextensiveelimination half-life5 hoursexcretionkidney (40% as unchanged dacarbazine)identifiers iupac name 5-(3,3-dimethyl-1-triazenyl)imidazole-4-carboxamide cas number4342-03-4 ypubchem cid2942drugbankdb00851 ychemspider10481959 yunii7gr28w0fjikeggd00288 yc06936chebichebi:4305 nchemblchembl476 ycomptox dashboard (epa)dtxsid0020369 echa infocard100.022.179 chemical and physical dataformulac6h10n6omolar mass182.187 g·mol−13d model (jsmol)interactive image smiles cn(c)n=nc1cnc1c(n)=o inchi inchi=1s/c6h10n6o/c1-12(2)11-10-6-4(5(7)13)8-3-9-6/h3h,1-2h3,(h2,7,13)(h,8,9)/b11-10+ ykey:fdkxtqmxeqvlrf-zhacjkmwsa-n y ny (what is this?) (verify) common side effects include loss of appetite, vomiting, low white blood cell count, and low platelets. other serious side effects include liver problems and allergic reactions. it is unclear if use in pregnancy is safe for the baby. dacarbazine is in the alkylating agent and purine analog families of medication. dacarbazine was approved for medical use in the united states in 1975. it is on the world health organization's list of essential medicines. medical uses as of mid-2006, dacarbazine is commonly used as a single agent in the treatment of metastatic melanoma, and as part of the abvd chemotherapy regimen to treat hodgkin's lymphoma, and in the maid regimen for sarcoma. dacarbazine was proven to be just as efficacious as procarbazine, another drug with similar chemistry, in the german trial for paediatric hodgkin's lymphoma, without the teratogenic effects. thus copdac has replaced the former copp regime in children for tg2 & 3 following oepa. side effects like many chemotherapy drugs, dacarbazine may have numerous serious side effects, because it interferes with normal cell growth as well as cancer cell growth. among the most serious possible side effects are birth defects to children conceived or carried during treatment; sterility, possibly permanent; or immune suppression (reduced ability to fight infection or disease). dacarbazine is considered to be highly emetogenic, and most patients will be pre-medicated with dexamethasone and antiemetic drugs like 5-ht3 antagonist (e.g., ondansetron) and/or nk1 receptor antagonist (e.g., aprepitant). other significant side effects include headache, fatigue and occasionally diarrhea. the swedish national board of health and welfare has sent out a black box warning and suggests avoiding dacarbazine due to liver problems. mechanism of action dacarbazine works by methylating guanine at the o-6 and n-7 positions. guanine is one of the four nucleotides that makes up dna. the methylated dna strands stick together such that cell division becomes impossible. this affects cancer cells more than healthy cells because cancer cells divide faster. unfortunately however, some of the healthy cells will still be damaged. dacarbazine is bioactivated in liver by demethylation to "mtic" and then to diazomethane, which is an alkylating agent. synthesis shealy et al., j. org. chem. 27, 2150 (1962); hano et al., gann 59, 207 (1968), c.a. 69, 42527g (1968). history