Triazenes

Triazenes

Dacarbazine, a triazene, functions as an alkylating drug after be-ing activated by the liver.

Pharmacokinetics

After I.V. injection, dacarbazine is distributed throughout the body and metabolized in the liver. Within 6 hours, 30% to 46% of a dose is excreted by the kidneys (half is excreted unchanged, and half is excreted as one of the metabolites).

Dysfunction junction

In patients with kidney or liver dysfunction, dacarbazine’s half-life may increase to 7 hours.

Pharmacodynamics

Dacarbazine must first be metabolized in the liver to become an active drug. It seems to inhibit ribonucleic acid (RNA) and protein synthesis. Like other alkylating drugs, dacarbazine is cell cycle– nonspecific.

Pharmacotherapeutics

Dacarbazine is used primarily to treat patients with malignant melanoma but is also used with other drugs to treat patients with Hodgkin’s disease.

Drug interactions

No significant drug interactions have been reported with dacar-bazine. (See Adverse reactions to triazenes.)