Abstract
Methotrexate (MTX) is one of the most potent and widely used drugs in cancer chemotherapy. Synthesized in 1949 by Seeger and co-workers, it soon proved to be strikingly effective in childhood leukemia (Farber et al., 1956). The immunosuppressive potential of MTX was also recognized in the 1950s; this aspect received minimal attention, however, in the following years. During the 1970s, its primary use in nonneoplastic disease was for the treatment of psoriasis, based on the assumption that the rapidly proliferating epidermal cells in psoriatic lesions are more sensitive to the effects of MTX than normal epidermal cells.
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Keywords
- Rheumatoid Arthritis Patient
- Dihydrofolate Reductase
- Psoriatic Patient
- Thymidylate Synthetase
- Leucovorin Rescue
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Endresen, L. (1992). Pharmacology and General Therapeutic Principles of Methotrexate. In: Rugstad, H.E., Endresen, L., Førre, Ø. (eds) Immunopharmacology in Autoimmune Diseases and Transplantation. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-1167-4_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-1167-4_10
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