METHYLTESTOSTERONE (METHITEST) Nursing Considerations

What is the generic name?

METHYLTESTOSTERONE

What is the Trade Name for METHYLTESTOSTERONE?

METHITEST

What are the Indications for METHYLTESTOSTERONE?

• INDICATIONS AND USAGE 1. Males Androgens are indicated for replacement therapy in conditions associated with a deficiency or absence of endogenous testosterone: Primary hypogonadism (congenita or acquired) ‚Äî Testicular failure due to cryptohidism, bilateral torsion, orchitis, vanishing testis syndrome, or orchidectomy. Hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (congenital or acquired) ‚Äî Gonadotropin or luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) deficiency, or pituitary-hypothalamic injury from tumors, trauma, or radiation. (Appropriate adrenal cortical and thyroid hormone replacement therapy are still necessary, however, and are actually of primary importance.) If the above conditions occur prior to puberty, androgen replacement therapy will be needed during the adolescent years for development of secondary sexual characteristics. Prolonged androgen treatment will be required to maintain sexual characteristics in these and other males who develop testosterone deficiency after puberty. Safety and efficacy of methyltestosterone in men with ‚Äúage-related hypogonadism‚Äù (also referred to as ‚Äúlate-onset hypogonadism‚Äù) have not been established. Androgens may be used to stimulate puberty in carefully selected males with clearly delayed puberty. These patients usually have a familial pattern of delayed puberty that is not secondary to a pathological disorder; puberty is expected to occur spontaneously at a relatively late date. Brief treatment with conservative doses may occasionally be justified in these patients if they do not respond to psychological support. The potential adverse effect on bone maturation should be discussed with the patient and parents prior to androgen administration. An X-ray of the hand and wrist to determine bone age should be obtained every 6 months to assess the effect of treatment on the epiphyseal centers (see WARNINGS ). 2. Females Androgens may be used secondarily in women with advancing inoperable metastatic (skeletal) mammary cancer who are 1 to 5 years postmenopausal. Primary goals of therapy in these women include ablation of the ovaries. Other methods of counteracting estrogen activity are adrenalectomy, hypophysectomy, and/or antiestrogen therapy. This treatment has also been used in premenopausal women with breast cancer who have benefitted from oophorectomy and are considered to have a hormone-responsive tumor. Judgment concerning androgen therapy should be made by an oncologist with expertise in this field.

References: https://open.fda.gov/