Medical Pharmacology Chapter 33-34: Anticancer Drugs
Classification8
Ethyleneimes/Methylmelamines
Altretamine (Hexalen) is hexamethylmelamine, structurally similar to triethylenemelamine (tretamine).4
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Although classified as an alkylating agent, altretamine appears not to exhibit alkylating activity.
Accordingly, cytotoxicity associated with altretamine occurs by mechanisms yet to be described.
Altretamine may be administered to treat ovarian cancer in salvage therapy setting, as described in case reports.15
This agent is not considered a first-line drug.14
In those patients with epithelial ovarian cancer resistant to platinum-based chemotherapy, altretamine may be used but other drugs exhibit a higher response rate.
For example, the response rate to altretamine in this setting is about 10%.
This response rate is less than that reported for epirubicin, vinorelbine, and docetaxel among others.
However, altretamine may present a reasonable alternative for individuals preferring oral therapy or in circumstances in which socioeconomic factors are especially important.14
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