Chlorambucil

Chlorambucil
Clinical data


Trade names	Leukeran, Linfolizin, others
AHFS/Drugs.com	Monograph
MedlinePlus	a682899
Pregnancy category	US: D (Evidence of risk)
Routes of administration	by mouth
ATC code	L01AA02 (WHO)
Legal status
Legal status	℞ (Prescription only)
Pharmacokinetic data
Bioavailability	?
Metabolism	Liver
Biological half-life	1.5 hours
Excretion	N/A
Identifiers
IUPAC name 4-[bis(2-chlorethyl)amino]benzenebutanoic acid
CAS Number	305-03-3^Y
PubChem (CID)	2708
IUPHAR/BPS	7143
DrugBank	DB00291^Y
ChemSpider	2607^Y
UNII	18D0SL7309^Y
KEGG	D00266^Y
ChEBI	CHEBI:28830^Y
ChEMBL	CHEMBL515^Y
ECHA InfoCard	100.005.603
Chemical and physical data
Formula	C₁₄H₁₉Cl₂NO₂
Molar mass	304.212 g/mol
3D model (Jmol)	Interactive image
SMILES c1cc(ccc1CCCC(=O)O)N(CCCl)CCCl
InChI InChI=1S/C14H19Cl2NO2/c15-8-10-17(11-9-16)13-6-4-12(5-7-13)2-1-3-14(18)19/h4-7H,1-3,8-11H2,(H,18,19)^Y Key:JCKYGMPEJWAADB-UHFFFAOYSA-N^Y

Chlorambucil, sold under the brand name Leukeran among others, is a chemotherapy medication used to treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), Hodgkin lymphoma, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. For CLL it is a preferred treatment. It is given by mouth.

Common side effects include bone marrow suppression. Other serious side effects include an increased long term risk of further cancer, infertility, and allergic reactions. Use during pregnancy often results in harm to the baby. Chlorambucil is in the alkylating agent family of medications. It works by blocking the formation of DNA and RNA.

Chlorambucil was approved for medical use in the United States in 1957. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines, the most effective and safe medicines needed in a health system. The wholesale cost in the developing world is about 111.87 USD per month. In the United Kingdom it costs the NHS about 145.84 pounds per months. It was originally made from nitrogen mustard.

Chlorambucil's current use is mainly in chronic lymphocytic leukemia, as it is well tolerated by most patients, though chlorambucil has been largely replaced by fludarabine as first-line treatment in younger patients. It can be used for treating some types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Waldenström macroglobulinemia, polycythemia vera, trophoblastic neoplasms, and ovarian carcinoma. Moreover, it also has been used as an immunosuppressive drug for various autoimmune and inflammatory conditions, such as nephrotic syndrome.