Degarelix is a hormonal therapy used in the treatment of prostate cancer. Testosterone is a male hormone that promotes growth of many prostate tumours and therefore reducing circulating testosterone to very low (castration) levels is often the treatment goal in the management of men with advanced prostate cancer. Degarelix has an immediate onset of action, binding to gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) receptors in the pituitary gland and blocking their interaction with GnRH. This induces a fast and profound reduction in luteinising hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and in turn, testosterone suppression. GnRH antagonists (receptor blockers) such as degarelix are a new type of hormonal therapy for prostate cancer. These agents are synthetic peptide derivatives of the natural GnRH decapeptide – a hormone that is made by neurons in the hypothalamus.
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