Danogen – Any one heard this..?

[krishananth]

Hi All

My dad has been MDS – RAEB with 8 – 10% blasts. Tried Thalidomide but it did not continue for long as he started developing rashes and suffered from intestine infection.
Had 5 -6 EPO injections, but this too does not seem to work as his counts fell down to the usual marker of 5 Hbg and he required transfusions again on 6-Jan.
This has been his 5 transufusion..i.e 10th packed cell after the diagnosis in July 2005.

Now the docs are suggesting him to take EPO inj. for another 2 – 3 months on a weekly basis with Danogen.

We are a little confused with the medication as Danogen reviews on the net does not sound like it can be used for MDS. It is more a female hormonal medicine.
We though the doc possibly by mistake has written dacogen as danogen but he has specifically mentioned it is an oral pill where dacogen is injection based.
Any help/pointers in this regards

Thanks
Sandhya

[patti]

I’m thinking I wouldn’t be giving your dad anything that there is a question about. I’ve not heard of Danogen for MDS but I know Dacogen is used a lot. Did you question the doctor about this yet? You really need to and if he still insists he’s right I think you might want to get another opinion before starting this med to varify it’s the correct one.

patti

[yuri]

DANOGEN (Danazol, Danocrine)
Manufacturer: Cipla manufactures DANOGEN (Danazol, Danocrine).
Uses: The uses of DANOGEN (Danazol, Danocrine) include:
Used to treat endometriosis, a disease that causes infertility, pain before and during menstrual periods, pain during and after sexual activity, and heavy or irregular bleeding. Danazol also is used in fibrocystic breast disease to reduce breast pain, tenderness, and nodules (lumps).

[Harold]

If you search (Google) “Danazol in myelodysplasia” there are lots of references to Danazol therapy in myelodysplasia, most of them dated. I think its use in MDS is mostly anecdotal but it may be of benefit in certain patients. It’s actually a synthetic male hormone used mostly for female disorders.

[Jim]

I was on Danazol for about six months. It raised my Platelet count from 25,000 to the 130,000 range during the six months I was on it. RBC and WBC improved somewhat too. It quit working and my Platelets went back to the 20,000 range.

JW

[krishananth]

Jim

Please could you let me know whether you took Danazol with some other medicine. My dad has been asked to take Danazol daily 3 times with procrit on weekly basis.

Regards
Sandhya

[Jerry]

Hi …
I take 200 mg of Danazol in the morning and 200 mg in the evening to try to help my platelets … I also take Aranesp and Neulasta … so far, I cannot tell you that the Danazol is working and I have been on it for about 6 months … hope this helps a bit
Jerry

[Jim]

Quote:

Originally posted by krishananth:
Jim

Please could you let me know whether you took Danazol with some other medicine. Regards
Sandhya

I also got Aranesp as needed and 5mg of Prednisone daily.

JW

[krishananth]

Jim

Thanks a lot for your speedy response.

Rgds
Sandhya

[Author]

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