Chlormethine 160micrograms/g gel
Requires a prescription from a doctor or prescriber
A vesicant and necrotizing irritant destructive to mucous membranes, mechlorethamine is an alkylating drug.
Official documents, adverse reaction reporting, and safety monitoring
Report a side effect
Submit a Yellow Card report to the MHRA
Official medicine documents
Yellow Card
Report side effects (MHRA)
Drug safety updates
MHRA alerts for Chlormethine
Safety monitoring data
Yellow Card reports
The MHRA Yellow Card scheme collects reports of suspected side effects from healthcare professionals and patients. View the Drug Analysis Profile (iDAP) for real-world adverse reaction data.
View Drug Analysis Profile
Suspected adverse reactions reported for Chlormethine
Browse all iDAP reports
Interactive Drug Analysis Profiles for all medicines
Report a side effect
Submit a Yellow Card report to the MHRA
Data from the MHRA Yellow Card scheme. A reported reaction does not necessarily mean the medicine caused it. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
EudraVigilance
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) collects suspected adverse reaction reports from across the EU/EEA through the EudraVigilance system. Search for safety data on this medicine.
View EudraVigilance report
Suspected adverse reactions reported for Chlormethine
About EudraVigilance
Learn about EU pharmacovigilance and safety monitoring
EudraVigilance data is published by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). A suspected adverse reaction is not necessarily caused by the medicine.
1 branded products available
MHRA licensed products
View all licensed products for Chlormethine on the MHRA register
Ledaga 160micrograms/g gel
Therapeutically similar medicines
Similarity is based on WHO Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification and on a factual NHS dm+d therapeutic-grouping code prefix. Source data: NHS dm+d via TRUD (OGL v3.0), WHO ATC/DDD Index.
NHS prescribing volume and spending trends
Guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
NICE clinical guidance(1)
Source: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Check stock at pharmacies and supply information
Pharmacy stock checkers
Search for this medicine at major UK pharmacy chains. These links open the retailer's own website — results depend on their current online catalogue.
Supply & safety information
Official UK regulator monitoring and safety alerts
Pharmacy links redirect to the retailer's own search and do not represent real-time stock levels. Shortage and safety information sourced from MHRA drug safety updates (gov.uk, Crown Copyright under OGL v3.0).
Codes for healthcare professionals and prescribing systems
These codes are used by healthcare IT systems and prescribers to identify this medicine.
NHS UK identifiers
Browse tools
SNOMED CT and dm+d codes from NHS TRUD (Technology Reference data Update Distribution), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. ATC codes from the WHO Collaborating Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology (whocc.no).
Active and completed clinical studies from ClinicalTrials.gov
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health (NIH). Data accessed via ClinicalTrials.gov API v2. Trial information is provided for research purposes and does not constitute medical advice.
Academic studies and reviews for this medicine's active substance
Showing the 50 most relevant studies.
Reviews & meta-analyses: 11 · Randomised trials: 1 · 2021–2026
Showing the 50 most relevant studies, sorted by most relevant.
Dana Taghaddos, Grace Xiong, Nicholas Hua, et al.
Journal of Cutaneous Medicine and Surgery, 2025
E. Papadavid, M. Koumourtzis, V. Nikolaou, et al.
Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, 2022
- Mycosis Fungoides
- Skin Neoplasms
- Skin Diseases
M. Ardigò, N. Nikbakht, M. Teoli, et al.
Frontiers in Medicine, 2024
Topical chlormethine gel has been approved as monotherapy for treatment of adult patients with mycosis fungoides (MF), the most common form of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. In clinical practice, chlormethine gel is often combined with other skin-directed or systemic therapies to optimize response and target recalcitrant lesions. Positive outcomes with combination regimens using chlormethine gel and topical corticosteroids, phototherapy, retinoids, methotrexate, or interferon-α have been reported in literature. However, there are no treatment guidelines on the use of combination regimens with chlormethine gel. To provide real-world evidence and guidance on the use of chlormethine gel combination regimens, several cases of patients treated with chlormethine gel combined with phototherapy (n = 5), retinoids (n = 16), or mogamulizumab (n = 3) are presented. These different combination regimens showed promising results. Most patients had a complete or partial response following treatment and the combinations were well-tolerated over extended treatment periods. Patients receiving chlormethine gel with retinoids had long-term periods of remission, even after treatment discontinuation. Durations of response of up to 3 years were observed in these patients. This long-term disease control may be the result of disease-modifying effects of chlormethine. Previous studies have shown targeted reductions in malignant T-cell clones in patients treated with chlormethine gel as well as improved post-treatment responses. Further research is needed to determine the effectiveness and safety of combination treatment regimens with chlormethine gel and to assess the impact chlormethine gel has on disease control.
Abstract licence: CC BY 4.0
Ivan V. Litvinov, Mohannad Abu-Hilal, Raed Alhusayen, et al.
Frontiers in Medicine, 2024
Mycosis fungoides (MF) is the most common type of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL), representing the majority of all lymphomas arising in the skin. The disease treatment focuses on managing symptoms and preventing disease evolution. To date, there is no gold standard for MF-CTCL treatment. Chlormethine, a DNA alkylating agent, is a long-known treatment for CTCL. The new chlormethine 0.02% gel (CL-gel) formulation provides proven efficacy and ease of application, improving patient compliance and outcome. The current consensus paper and real-world experience with CL-gel in the treatment of early-stage MF-CTCL may help meet the unmet need for treatments in Canada. A modified Delphi process comprised a virtual meeting and an online follow-up. A panel of 9 board-certified dermatologists with expertise in cutaneous lymphoma and 1 radiation oncologist discussed the systematic literature review results, drew from clinical experience and the opinion of the panel to adopt and agree on five consensus statements. The panel shared real-world patient cases to illustrate the use of chlormethine gel in a variety of patients across Canada. Five real-world patient cases were provided to illustrate the panels’ use of chlormethine gel.
Abstract licence: CC BY 4.0
Fahmy LM, Kwinta BD, Schreidah CM, et al.
2023
IntroductionPsoriasis is a common inflammatory skin disease that significantly impacts patients' psychosocial wellbeing. Despite increasingly effective treatment options, the recurrence of plaques after discontinuation of therapy in many patients highlights the need for additional therapies.MethodsWe report two cases of patients with concurrent psoriasis and mycosis fungoides who were treated with topical mechlorethamine (MCH). A literature review was performed by searching PubMed using the keywords psoriasis, mechlorethamine, chlormethine, and nitrogen mustard.ResultsBoth patients had significant improvement in their psoriasis following treatment with topical MCH gel, which was well tolerated and maintained clearance after 1 and 3 years of follow-up. Seven prospective cohort studies investigating the use of topical MCH were identified through literature review. Out of five studies reporting clinical outcomes by patient, 68 of 77 patients (88%) experienced an improvement in their psoriasis, with 47 of 77 (61%) achieving complete or near-complete clearance. The remaining two studies reported clinical outcomes by lesion, demonstrating improvement in 40 of 45 lesions (88%) and complete or near-complete clearance in 32 of 42 lesions (76%). Contact dermatitis was the most frequent adverse effect, observed in 56 of 125 patients (45%).ConclusionsTopical MCH may be an option for patients with psoriasis who fail or have incomplete responses to other treatments. Published studies are limited by lack of standardized treatment regimens and well-defined outcome measures, highlighting the need for prospective clinical trials to better understand the utility of this topical agent in psoriasis.
Abstract licence: CC BY-NC
Miriam Teoli, Martina Caviglia, Federica Rega, et al.
Journal of Clinical Medicine, 2025
Background: Lymphomatoid papulosis (LyP) is a primary cutaneous CD30-positive T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder presenting with self-healing erythematous papulonodular lesions that may ulcerate and scar. Treatment varies by lesion extent, location, and severity. Case Report: We describe a 57-year-old man with acral LyP successfully treated with chlormethine gel (CG). The patient experienced impaired second finger mobility for over 3 months due to an ulcerated nodular mass. After 3 months of CG treatment, complete remission, symptom resolution, and full joint recovery were achieved. Six months post-treatment, the patient remained in remission. Conclusions: This case underscores the effectiveness of CG in achieving sustained remission in acral LyP, suggesting its potential as a treatment option for this rare condition.
Abstract licence: CC BY 4.0
Ulrike Wehkamp, Marco Ardigò, Evangelia Papadavid, et al.
Advances in Therapy, 2023
Larisa J. Geskin, Martine Bagot, Emmilia Hodak, et al.
Dermatology and Therapy, 2021
Mycosis fungoides (MF), the most common form of primary cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, is a disease typically with an indolent course that is initially characterized by localized patches and plaques. In the early stages of the disease, treatment involves skin-directed therapies (SDTs) such as topical corticosteroids and retinoids. Chlormethine gel (also known as mechlorethamine) was the first SDT purposely developed to treat MF and is currently endorsed by international guidelines for the treatment of adult patients with MF as a first-line therapy. While chlormethine is an efficacious therapy, its usage may be complicated by the development of cutaneous reactions at the sites of application. Herein, we discuss the supportive guidelines for MF and the suitability of chlormethine as a therapeutic option in patients with MF. In addition, we present real-world experience on the use of chlormethine gel from clinics in the USA, Israel, and France with the aim of demonstrating the efficacy of chlormethine gel in routine clinical practice and outlining strategies that are being used to manage emergent cutaneous reactions.
Abstract licence: CC BY-NC 4.0
Ulrike Wehkamp, Marco Ardigò, Evangelia Papadavid, et al.
Advances in Therapy, 2022
- Lymphoma, T-Cell, Cutaneous
- Mycosis Fungoides
- Skin Neoplasms
Mycosis fungoides (MF) is a rare disease and is the most common form of cutaneous T cell lymphoma. Topical chlormethine (CL) gel is the first cytotoxic chemotherapy gel that was specifically developed for treatment of MF. In this review, we provide an overview of all available data on the use of CL gel for treatment of patients with MF. On the basis of the current data collected, CL gel is highly effective, with good response rates observed both in clinical trial and real-world settings. While the gel is approved for monotherapy, it is also used in combination with concomitant skin-directed or systemic therapies in clinical practice. Responses to CL gel treatment can be rapid, but they also frequently occur with a delayed onset of up to 6 months. This indicates that continued treatment with CL gel is important. CL gel has a manageable safety profile, with most adverse events being mild and skin related. Contact dermatitis is one of the more common skin-related adverse events to occur with CL gel treatment that can potentially lead to treatment discontinuation. The data from the literature indicate that patients being treated with CL gel should be monitored carefully, and that dermatitis must be managed effectively to allow patients to continue treatment and achieve the best possible response to treatment.
Abstract licence: CC BY-NC 4.0
C. Assaf, N. Booken, E. Dippel, et al.
JDDG: Journal der Deutschen Dermatologischen Gesellschaft, 2022
- Mycosis Fungoides
- Skin Neoplasms
- Dermatitis, Contact
In Europe chlormethine gel is licensed for the management of patients with mycosis fungoides of all stages. However, the optimal regimen regarding frequency and dosing as well as combination and maintenance therapy is not well established.
Abstract licence: CC BY-NC 4.0
Sources: aggregated from Europe PMC (EMBL-EBI), OpenAlex, Crossref, PubMed and other open scholarly databases. Retracted articles are excluded. Study information is provided for research purposes and does not constitute medical advice.
Pharmacology and chemical data from DrugBank
Key facts
Drug status
Approved
Major interactions
None known
Half-life
15 minutes
Mechanism
Alkylating agents work by three different mechanisms: 1) attachment of alkyl gro…
Food interactions
None known
Human targets
1 target
Data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Pharmacokinetics at a glance
Absorption
Half-life
15 minutes
Metabolism
Pharmacokinetic data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
The FDA granted marketing approval for the orphan drug Valchlor (mechlorethamine) gel on August 23, 2013 for the topical treatment of stage IA and IB mycosis fungoides-type cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) in patients who have received prior skin-directed therapy. Each tube of Valchlor contains 0.016% of mechlorethamine which is equivalent to 0.02% mechlorethamine HCl.
Known interactions with other medicines. Always consult a healthcare professional.
Showing 50 of 794 interactions
The oral LD50 for a rat is 10 mg/kg.
How the body processes this drug — absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination
Enzymes involved in drug metabolism — important for understanding drug interactions
ATC L01AA05
Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
Show
Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
Linked compound data from DrugBank Open Data (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Mechlorethamine
Matched from: Chlormethine
Additional database identifiers
Drugs Product Database (DPD)
5632
Drugs Product Database (DPD)
3349
ChemSpider
3893
BindingDB
200297
ZINC
ZINC000002539484
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:983
GenAtlas
BCHE
GeneCards
BCHE
GenBank Gene Database
M32391
GenBank Protein Database
1311630
Guide to Pharmacology
2471
UniProt Accession
CHLE_HUMAN
DrugBank citations
If you use DrugBank data in your research, please cite:
- DrugBank 6.02024Recommended citationKnox C., Wilson M., Klinger C.M., et alDrugBank 6.0: the DrugBank Knowledgebase for 2024Nucleic Acids Res. 2024 Jan 552(D1):D1265-D1275
- DrugBank 5.02018Wishart D.S., Feunang Y.D., Guo A.C., et alDrugBank 5.0: a major update to the DrugBank database for 2018Nucleic Acids Res. 2017 Nov 846(D1):D1074-D1082
- DrugBank 4.02014Law V., Knox C., Djoumbou Y., et alDrugBank 4.0: shedding new light on drug metabolismNucleic Acids Res. 2014 Jan 142(1):D1091-7
- DrugBank 3.02011Knox C., Law V., Jewison T., et alDrugBank 3.0: a comprehensive resource for 'omics' research on drugsNucleic Acids Res. 2011 Jan39(Database issue):D1035-41
- DrugBank 2.02008Wishart D.S., Knox C., Guo A.C., et alDrugBank: a knowledgebase for drugs, drug actions and drug targets.Nucleic Acids Research2008 Jan36(Database issue):D901-6
- DrugBank 1.02006Wishart D.S., Knox C., Guo A.C., et alDrugBank: a comprehensive resource for in silico drug discovery and exploration.Nucleic Acids Research2006 Jan 134(Database issue):D668-72