User:Mr. Ibrahem/Abiraterone acetate

Abiraterone acetate, sold under the brand name Zytiga among others, is a medication used to treat prostate cancer. Specifically it is used together with a corticosteroid for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) and metastatic high-risk castration-sensitive prostate cancer (mCSPC). It should either be used following removal of the testicles or along with a gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analog. It is taken by mouth.

Common side effects include tiredness, vomiting, headache, joint pain, high blood pressure, swelling, low blood potassium, high blood sugar, hot flashes, diarrhea, and cough. Other severe side effects may include liver failure and adrenocortical insufficiency. In males whose partners can become pregnant, birth control is recommended. Supplied as abiraterone acetate it is converted in the body to abiraterone. Abiraterone acetate works by suppressing the production of androgens – specifically it inhibits CYP17A1 – and thereby decreases the production of testosterone. In doing so, it prevents the effects of these hormones in prostate cancer.

Abiraterone acetate was described in 1995, and approved for medical use in the United States and Europe in 2011. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. In the United Kingdom it costs the NHS £2,700 a month as of 2018. In the United States this amount costs US$3,300 as of 2019. The medication is marketed widely throughout the world.