6-MP

Mercaptopurine goes with the trade name of Purinethol and often referred as 6-MP is an antineoplastic or cytotoxic drug used to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia or ALL. 6-MP comes in a tablet form with a packing of 50mg. It should be taken orally and the daily dose should be maintained at the same time at least an hour or two before meals or on empty stomach. The amount of 6-MP depends upon various factors like the stage of cancer, your body weight, height, other bodily ailments etc.

Side effects of 6-MP are not known but then there are certain side effects that occur at the onset of the treatment cycle and continue till the end of the treatment cycle. These side effects are reversible. Side effects also depends upon the dosage as higher the dosage the more severe the side effects.

Certain side effects that are common to all chemo mode of treatment are low blood count leading to anemia, low count of white blood cells which leads to poor immune system subjecting to infections. This drug has shown to increase the toxicity in the liver leading to liver ailments as there is an increase in the bilirubin level in the liver which can lead to jaundice, swelling in the abdomen etc.

Apart from this some of the other side effects are nausea with some cases of vomiting, loss of appetite, diarrhea, skin rashes, darkening and discoloration of the skin due to radiation and low fertility rate.

You need to consult your doctor if the following problem persists for more than 24 hours: unusual bleeding, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, yellowish color of the skin and eyes, mouth sores which leads to bleeding, chills, blood in the stool and urine etc.

Certain precautionary methods - Enlighten your doctor on all the medications you are currently on, avoid getting immunized or vaccine, avoid pregnancy as this could be fatal to the fetus, avoid breast feeding etc. Certain drugs like warfarin which is used for thinning of blood should be avoided. Other medication like Allopurinol which is used in the treatment of gout is known to increase the level of uric acid in the body.

Certain self help tips - Take the medicine at least an hour or two prior to the meals or on empty stomach, take the medication at the same given time every day, increase water intake, maintain a good hygiene, follow a nutritious diet regime, avoid crowded areas as your immune system is weak and you are prone to infections, avoid sports or other such activities where you are subjected to injuries, use of soft bristle toothbrush is recommended to prevent mouth sores and bleeding of the gums etc. You also need to get your blood check-up done on a regular basis to monitor the proper functioning of your internal body organs.

Cancer as you known is the rapid division of cells or rather uncontrolled division of cells in the body which leads to tumor. This imbalance in the cell growth is termed as cancer. 6-MP is an antimetabolities or anti cancer drug which leads to the destruction of these cancerous cells in the body and also helps shrink the tumor in the body. They also interfere in the cell division thus leading to the self destruction of these cells. These cancer fighting drugs are known not only to fight against cancer cells they also destroy the normal and healthy cells that surround these cancerous cells.