ANDROXY SUMMARY
ANDROXY™
(Fluoxymesterone Tablets, USP)
ANDROXY™ (Fluoxymesterone Tablets, USP) contains fluoxymesterone, a synthetic androgen. The androgens are steroids that develop and maintain primary and secondary male sex characteristics. Androgens are derivatives of cyclopentano-perhydrophenanthrene. Endogenous androgens are C-19 steroids with a side chain at C-17, and with two angular methyl groups. Testosterone is the primary endogenous androgen. Fluoxymesterone is a synthetic derivative of testosterone. In their active form, all drugs in the class have a 17-beta-hydroxy group. 17-alpha-alkylation and halogenation at position 9 (fluoxymesterone) increase the pharmacologic activity per unit weight compared to testosterone when given orally. Fluoxymesterone is a white or practically white odorless, crystalline powder, melting at about 240°C with some decomposition. It is practically insoluble in water, sparingly soluble in alcohol and slightly soluble in chloroform.
Males
ANDROXY™ Tablets are indicated for replacement therapy in conditions associated with a deficiency or absence of endogenous testosterone.
Primary hypogonadism (congenital or acquired) —Testicular failure due to cryptorchidism, bilateral torsion, orchitis, vanishing testis syndrome, or orchidectomy.
Hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (congenital or acquired) —Idiopathic 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.
Delayed puberty — ANDROXY™ (Fluoxymesterone Tablets, USP) 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 six months to assess the effect of treatment on the epiphyseal centers (see WARNINGS).
Females
Metastatic mammary cancer — ANDROXY™ (Fluoxymesterone Tablets, USP) may be used secondarily in women with advancing inoperable metastatic (skeletal) mammary cancer who are one to five 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 been used in premenopausal women with breast cancer who have benefited 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.
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