biology

Nilutamide

Nilutamide is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Nilutamide rather than just read about it. In short: Nilutamide, sold under the brand names Nilandron and Anandron, is a nonsteroidal antiandrogen (NSAA) which is used in the treatment of prostate cancer. It has also been studied as a component of feminizing hormone therapy for transgender women and to treat acne and seborrhea in women.

Key takeaways

Nilutamide belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Nilutamide to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Nilutamide from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Nilutamide, sold under the brand names Nilandron and Anandron, is a nonsteroidal antiandrogen (NSAA) which is used in the treatment of prostate cancer. It has also been studied as a component of feminizing hormone therapy for transgender women and to treat acne and seborrhea in women. It is taken by mouth. Side effects in men include breast tenderness and enlargement, feminization, sexual dysfunction, and hot flashes. Nausea, vomiting, visual disturbances, alcohol intolerance, elevated liver enzymes, and lung disease can occur in both sexes. Rarely, nilutamide can cause respiratory failure and liver damage. These unfavorable side effects, along with a number of associated cases of death, have limited the use of nilutamide. Nilutamide acts as a selective antagonist of the androgen receptor (AR), preventing the effects of androgens like testosterone and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in the body. Because most prostate cancer cells rely on these hormones for growth and survival, nilutamide can slow the progression of prostate cancer and extend life in men with the disease. Nilutamide was discovered in 1977 and was first introduced for medical use in 1987. It became available in the United States in 1996. The drug has largely been replaced by newer and improved NSAAs, namely bicalutamide and enzalutamide, due to their better efficacy, tolerability, and safety, and is now rarely used. Nilutamide is a therapeutic alternative on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines.

Medical uses

Prostate cancer Nilutamide is used in prostate cancer in combination with a gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogue at a dosage of 300 mg/day (150 mg twice daily) for the first 4 weeks of treatment, and 150 mg/day thereafter. It is not indicated as a monotherapy in prostate cancer. Only one small non-comparative study has assessed nilutamide as a monotherapy in prostate cancer. Nilutamide has been used to prevent the effects of the testosterone flare at the start of GnRH agonist therapy in men with prostate cancer.

Transgender hormone therapy Nilutamide has been studied for use as a component of feminizing hormone therapy for transgender women. It has been assessed in at least five small clinical studies for this purpose in treatment-naive subjects. In these studies, nilutamide monotherapy at a dosage of 300 mg/day, induced observable signs of clinical feminization in young transgender women (age range 19–33 years) within 8 weeks, including breast development, decreased body hair (though not facial hair), decreased morning erections and sex drive, and positive psychological and emotional changes. Signs of breast development occurred in all subjects within 6 weeks and were associated with increased nipple sensitivity, and along with decreased hair growth, were the earliest sign of feminization. Nilutamide did not change the size of the prostate gland (which is the same as with high-dosage cyproterone acetate and ethinylestradiol treatment for as long as 18 months), but was found to alter its histology, including increased stromal tissue with a significant reduction in acini and atrophic epithelial cells, indicating glandular atrophy. In addition, readily apparent histological changes were observed in the testes, including a reduction in tubular and interstitial cells. Nilutamide was found to more than double luteinizing hormone (LH) and testosterone levels and to triple estradiol levels. In contrast, follicle-stimulating hormone levels remained unchanged. A slight but significant increase in prolactin levels was observed, and levels of sex hormone-binding globulin increased as well. The addition of ethinylestradiol to nilutamide therapy after 8 weeks abolished the increase in LH, testosterone, and estradiol levels and dramatically suppressed testosterone levels, into the castrate range. Both nilutamide alone and the combination of nilutamide and estrogen were regarded as resulting in effective and favorable antiandrogen action and feminization in transgender women.

Skin conditions Nilutamide has been assessed in the treatment of acne and seborrhea in women in at least one small clinical study. The dosage used was 200 mg/day, and in the study, "seborrhea and acne decreased markedly within the first month and practically disappeared after 2 months of [nilutamide] treatment."

Available forms Nilutamide is available in the form of 50 and 150 mg oral tablets.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Nilutamide

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Nilutamide claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Nilutamide before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Nilutamide ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Nilutamide

In research: Nilutamide appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Nilutamide in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Nilutamide is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1-nitro-2-(trifluoromethyl)benzene derivatives, CYP17A1 inhibitors, CYP1A1 inhibitors, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Nilutamide outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Nilutamide in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Nilutamide means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Nilutamide out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Nilutamide in simple terms?

Why does Nilutamide matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Nilutamide?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Nilutamide.