Lomustine 40mg capsules
Requires a prescription from a doctor or prescriber
An alkylating agent of value against both hematologic malignancies and solid tumors.
Official documents, adverse reaction reporting, and safety monitoring
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Official medicine documents
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.
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Suspected adverse reactions reported for Lomustine
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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.
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Suspected adverse reactions reported for Lomustine
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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.
3 branded products available
MHRA licensed products
View all licensed products for Lomustine on the MHRA register
Lomustine 40mg capsules
Lomustine 40mg capsules
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(3)
Brain tumours (primary) and brain metastases in over 16s (NG99)
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Brentuximab vedotin for treating relapsed or refractory systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma (TA478)
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
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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. BNF code shown is the factual mapping value distributed by NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) in the dm+d supplementary file under OGL v3.0; it is not affiliated with, nor licensed from, the publishers of the British National Formulary. 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: 12 · Randomised trials: 17 · 1982–2025
Showing the 50 most relevant studies, sorted by most relevant.
U. Herrlinger, T. Tzaridis, F. Mack, et al.
Lancet, 2019
G. Lombardi, G. D. De Salvo, A. Brandes, et al.
The Lancet. Oncology, 2019
W. Wick, C. Hartmann, C. Engel, et al.
Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2009
M. J. van den Bent, A. Carpentier, A. Brandes, et al.
Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2006
W. Taal, H. Oosterkamp, A. Walenkamp, et al.
The Lancet. Oncology, 2014
Tracy T. Batchelor, P. Mulholland, B. Neyns, et al.
Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2013
Schettini F, Pineda E, Rocca A, et al.
2025
- Glioblastoma
- Brain Neoplasms
- Neoplasm Recurrence, Local
BackgroundGlioblastoma is a highly aggressive primary central nervous system tumor characterized by poor outcomes. In case of relapse or progression to adjuvant chemotherapy, there is no univocal preferred regimen for relapsing glioblastoma.MethodsWe conducted a systematic review and Bayesian trial-level network meta-analyses (NMA) to identify the regimens associated with the best outcomes. The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS). Secondary endpoints were progression-free survival (PFS) and overall response rates (ORR). We estimated separate treatment rankings based on the surface under the cumulative ranking curve values. Only phase II/III prospective comparative trials were included.ResultsTwenty-four studies (3733 patients and 27 different therapies) were ultimately included. Twenty-three different regimens were compared for OS, 21 for PFS, and 26 for ORR. When taking lomustine as a common comparator, only regorafenib was likely to be significantly superior in terms of OS (hazard ratio: 0.50, 95% credible interval: 0.33-0.75). Regorafenib was significantly superior to other 16 (69.6%) regimens, including NovoTTF-100A, bevacizumab monotherapy, and several bevacizumab-based combinations. Regarding PFS and ORR, no treatment was clearly superior to the others.ConclusionsThis NMA supports regorafenib as one of the best available options for relapsing/refractory glioblastoma. Lomustine, NovoTTF-100A, and bevacizumab emerge as other viable alternative regimens. However, evidence on regorafenib is controversial at best. Moreover, most studies were underpowered, with varying inclusion criteria and primary endpoints, and no longer adapted to the most recent glioblastoma classification. A paradigmatic change in clinical trials' design for relapsing/refractory glioblastoma and more effective treatments are urgently required.
Abstract licence: CC BY-NC
Santos MDC, Rodrigues NMV, Gibram F, et al.
2025
- Oligodendroglioma
- Brain Neoplasms
- Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols
IntroductionAnaplastic oligodendrogliomas are rare diffuse gliomas. Although radiotherapy (RT) combined with procarbazine, lomustine, and vincristine (PCV) has been the historical standard, temozolomide (TMZ) has been increasingly used.ObjectiveTo compare the efficacy of RT combined with PCV versus RT combined with TMZ in adult with anaplastic oligodendroglioma.MethodsA systematic search of PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library was conducted up to March 2025. Eligible studies included patients with 1p/19q-codeleted anaplastic oligodendroglioma treated with RT + PCV, RT + TMZ, or RT alone. Studies comparing RT alone to RT + PCV or RT + TMZ were used to create indirect comparisons, with RT as a common comparator. A frequentist network meta-analysis with a random-effects model was used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Risk of bias was assessed with RoB 2 and ROBINS-I. The protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD420251012169). No funding was received.ResultsEight studies comprising 2,416 patients were included. The network meta-analysis, compared with RT alone, RT + PCV significantly improved OS (HR: 0.617; 95% CI 0.465-0.819; p = 0.0009), and PFS (HR: 0.547; 95% CI 0.415-0.721; p ConclusionIn patients with anaplastic oligodendroglioma, RT combined with PCV provides superior survival outcomes compared to radiotherapy combined with TMZ.
Abstract licence: CC BY-NC-ND
X. Ren, Di Ai, Tong Li, et al.
Frontiers in Neurology, 2021
Michael Weller, Emilie Le Rhun
Cancer Treatment Reviews, 2020
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
94 minutes
Mechanism
Lomustine is a highly lipophilic nitrosourea compound which undergoes hydrolysis in vivo to form reactive metabolites.
Food interactions
None known
Human targets
2 targets
Data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Pharmacokinetics at a glance
Absorption
Half-life
94 minutes
Protein binding
50%
Metabolism
Elimination
30 mg/m
Pharmacokinetic data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Known interactions with other medications. Always consult a healthcare professional.
Showing 50 of 532 interactions
The onset of toxicity has varied from 6 months after initiation of therapy, to as late as 15 years after.
How the body processes this drug — absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination
Enzymes involved in drug metabolism — important for understanding drug interactions
ATC L01AD02
Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
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Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
Linked compound data from DrugBank Open Data (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Lomustine
Additional database identifiers
Drugs Product Database (DPD)
2275
ChemSpider
3813
BindingDB
50247919
ZINC
ZINC000003831006
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:16078
GeneCards
STMN4
GenBank Gene Database
AJ303455
GenBank Protein Database
12274941
UniProt Accession
STMN4_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2625
GenAtlas
CYP2D6
GeneCards
CYP2D6
GenBank Gene Database
M20403
GenBank Protein Database
181350
Guide to Pharmacology
1329
UniProt Accession
CP2D6_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2637
GenAtlas
CYP3A4
GeneCards
CYP3A4
GenBank Gene Database
M18907
Guide to Pharmacology
1337
UniProt Accession
CP3A4_HUMAN
DrugBank citations
If you use DrugBank data in your research, please cite the following publications:
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Structured knowledge from the free knowledge base
ATC classifications (Wikidata)
Linked open data from Wikidata (Q415378), a free and open knowledge base operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Data is available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication. WHO INN from the World Health Organization.