A piperidinyl isoindole originally introduced as a non-barbiturate hypnotic, thalidomide was withdrawn from the market due to teratogenic effects. It has been reintroduced and used for a number of inflammatory disorders and cancers. Thalidomide displays immunosuppressive and anti-angiogenic activity through modulating the release of inflammatory mediators like tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a) and other cytokine action. Due to severe teratogenicity, pregnancy must be excluded before the start of treatment and patients must enrol in the THALIDOMID Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) program to ensure contraception adherence.
Thalidomide is primarily used for the acute treatment and maintenance therapy to prevent and suppress the cutaneous manifestations of moderate to severe erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL).
Medicine Branch, Bethesda, Maryland, United States
Oregon Health and Science University Cancer Institute, Portland, Oregon, United States
Desert Regional Medical Center Comprehensive Cancer Center, Palm Springs, California, United States
Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, United States
Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, Rochester, Minnesota, United States
Mayo Clinic Scottsdale, Scottsdale, Arizona, United States
Mayo Clinic - Jacksonville, Jacksonville, Florida, United States
New York University School of Medicine General Clinical Research Center, Bellevue Hospital, New York, New York, United States
U.T.M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, United States
Div. Univ. Di Ematologia, Az. Osp. San Giovanni Battista, Torino, TO, Italy
Dip. Scienze Mediche & IRCAD-Università, UDA Ematologia, Novara, Italy
Servizio di Ematologia, Azienda Ospedaliera S. Maria Nuova, Reggio Emilia, Italy
Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, Georgia, United States
UMass Memorial Medical Center, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States
Northport VAMC, Northport, New York, United States
Renal Unit, Department of Medicine & Therapeutics, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
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