Melphalan (Noun)
Meaning
Antineoplastic drug (trade name Alkeran) used to treat multiple myeloma and some other malignancies.
Classification
Nouns denoting man-made objects.
Examples
- Melphalan is used to treat multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells in the bone marrow, as well as some other types of cancer, such as ovarian cancer.
- The oncologist prescribed a regimen of melphalan to treat the patient's refractory multiple myeloma.
- High-dose melphalan with stem cell transplantation is a treatment option for patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.
- In a clinical trial, patients with advanced ovarian cancer received either standard chemotherapy or a combination of chemotherapy and melphalan.
- Melphalan has been used for over 50 years to treat multiple myeloma, but its use has declined with the development of newer therapies such as lenalidomide and bortezomib.