6-Thioguanine

Thioguanine or 6-TG is another anti cancer drug or cytotoxic drug used to treat acute myelogenous leukemia and in certain cases of chronic myelogenous leukemia. This drug comes under the antimetabolite drugs which are known to induce self destruction of the cancerous cells in the body.

How is this drug administered?

Thioguanine is administered orally i.e. it comes in a pill form and the amount to be administered depends upon certain factors like your body ailments, general or overall health, height, weight and the stage of cancer.

Some finer aspects of this drug is that there are no side effects that can be written about though there have been instances of side effects at the start of the treatment which has prolonged until the end of the treatment cycle. These side effects are reversible and wear off after the treatment cycle. There are certain precautionary methods to minimize the side effects. The severity of the side effects depends upon the dosage of the drug.

Some of the side effects that have been reported are decreasing in the blood cell counts both the white blood count and the red blood count thus leading to bleeding and increasing your chances of infections. Other side effects are nausea, loss of appetite, liver ailments etc.

Tumor lysis is a syndrome which is associated with this drug wherein there is a rapid destruction of the cancerous cells in the body leading to the increase in the level of potassium and phosphorus in the blood along with uric acid. Allopurinol helps decrease the production of uric acid in the body thus preventing kidney failure.

VOD or liver disease is the most common complaint due to this drug which leads to the increase of bilirubin levels in the blood, enlargement of the liver, retention of the fluid in the kidney and trouble in passing urine. In case you face such a problem you need to bring it to the notice of your doctor immediately. This retention of urine leads to multi organ failure. Furthermore there is a loss of fertility or there is a disruption of the proper functioning of the sexual organs.

You need to consult your doctor if your skin or eye gets an yellowish color, there is a persistent fever, rapid or sudden weight gain or swelling, pain in the abdomen etc. You need to tell your doctor about all the medications you are taking including herbal and vitamin supplements. Avoid vaccination or getting yourself immunized, avoid conceiving, breast feeding should be avoided, inform your doctor if you are pregnant as this could lead to harmful effects on the fetus.

To prevent nausea you can take anti-nausea drugs, increase fluid intake, avoiding crowded place is recommended as your body has a low immune system, maintain a good hygiene, follow a healthy and nutritious diet, avoid exposure to direct sunlight, wear sun protections. Get your blood tests done regularly to monitor the proper functioning of the internal body organs.

Like all anti-cancer drugs 6-Thioguanine is induces the self destruction of the cancerous cells in the body, apart from this it also destroys all the normal and healthy cells that are found surrounding these cancerous cells. They also help prevent the further growth of these cancerous cells and help shrink the tumor and stop the rapid division of these cancerous cells.