Methotrexate is a folate derivative that inhibits several enzymes responsible for nucleotide synthesis. This inhibition leads to suppression of inflammation as well as prevention of cell division. Because of these effects, methotrexate is often used to treat inflammation caused by arthritis or to control cell division in neoplastic diseases such as breast cancer and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Due to the toxic effects of methotrexate, it is indicated for treatment of some forms of arthritis and severe psoriasis only if first line treatment has failed or patients are intolerant of those treatments.
Methotrexate was granted FDA approval on 7 December 1953.
Methotrexate oral solution is indicated for pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia and pediatric polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Methotrexate injections for subcutaneous use are indicated for severe active rheumatoid arthritis, polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis and severe, recalcitrant, disabling psoriasis.
Other formulations are indicated to treat gestational choriocarcinoma, chorioadenoma destruens, hydatiform mole, breast cancer, epidermoid cancer of the head and neck, advanced mycosis fungoides, lung cancer, and advanced non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. It is also used in the maintenance of acute lymphocytic leukemia. Methotrexate is also given before treatment with leucovorin to prolong relapse-free survival following surgical removal of a tumour in non-metastatic osteosarcoma.
CCOP - Mayo Clinic Scottsdale Oncology Program, Scottsdale, Arizona, United States
CCOP - Oklahoma, Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
Indiana University Cancer Center, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Ziekenhuis Netwerk Antwerpen Middelheim, Antwerp, Belgium
Universitaetsklinikum Essen, Essen, Germany
Klinik Fuer Innere Medizin, Hematology/Oncology, Ernst Moritz Armdt Universitaet, Greifswald, Germany
Greenebaum Cancer Center at University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Cedars-Sinai Comprehensive Cancer Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, United States
Ellis Fischel Cancer Center at University of Missouri - Columbia, Columbia, Missouri, United States
Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center - Dallas, Dallas, Texas, United States
Memorial Cancer Institute at Memorial Regional Hospital, Hollywood, Florida, United States
MBCCOP - Medical College of Georgia Cancer Center, Augusta, Georgia, United States
Medical City Dallas Hospital, Dallas, Texas, United States
Ireland Cancer Center at University Hospitals of Cleveland and Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, United States
MD Anderson Cancer Center at University of Texas, Houston, Texas, United States
Cancer Research Center of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
State University of New York Health Sciences Center - Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York, United States
Maine Children's Cancer Program, Scarborough, Maine, United States
Tunnell Cancer Center at Beebe Medical Center, Lewes, Delaware, United States
Union Hospital Cancer Program at Union Hospital, Elkton MD, Maryland, United States
CCOP - Christiana Care Health Services, Newark, Delaware, United States
Drexel University College of Medicine - Center City Hahnemann Campus, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
MetroHealth Cancer Care Center at MetroHealth Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Swedish Medical Center, Englewood, Colorado, United States
University of Illinois Cancer Center, Chicago, Illinois, United States
University of Chicago Cancer Research Center, Chicago, Illinois, United States
Greenebaum Cancer Center at University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, Maryland, United States
University of Chicago Cancer Research Center, Chicago, Illinois, United States
University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center - University Campus, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States
University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States
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