Thioguanine

Other Names: 6-TG, Tabloid®

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About This Drug

Thioguanine is used to treat cancer. This drug is given by mouth.

Possible Side Effects

Bone marrow depression. This is a decrease in the number of white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets. This may raise your risk of infection, make you tired and weak (fatigue), and raise your risk of bleeding.
Soreness of the mouth and throat. You may have red areas, white patches, or sores that hurt.
Nausea and throwing up (vomiting). These symptoms may happen within a few hours or many hours after your treatment. Medicines are available to stop or lessen these side effects.
Headache
Feeling weak – this may interfere with your daily activities
Changes in your liver function. Your doctor will check your liver function as needed.
This drug may raise your risk of getting a second cancer

Treating Side Effects

Mouth care is very important. Your mouth care should consist of routine, gentle cleaning of your teeth or dentures and rinsing your mouth with a mixture of 1/2 teaspoon of salt in 8 ounces of water or 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda in 8 ounces of water. This should be done at least after each meal and at bedtime.
If you have mouth sores, avoid mouthwash that has alcohol. Avoid alcohol and smoking because they can bother your mouth and throat.
Ask your doctor or nurse about medicine that is available to help stop or lessen nausea and throwing up.
Talk with your doctor or nurse if you feel you need help with your mood.

Important Information

Take this drug one hour before a meal or two to three hours after a meal. Take it with a small, starchy snack like a cracker to lessen stomach upset.
Vaginal lubricants can be used to lessen vaginal dryness, itching, and pain during sexual relations.

Food and Drug Interactions

This drug may interact with other medicines. Tell your doctor and pharmacist about all the medicines and dietary supplements (vitamins, minerals, herbs and others) that you are taking at this time. The safety and use of dietary supplements and alternative diets are often not known. Using these might affect your cancer or interfere with your treatment. Until more is known, you should not use dietary supplements or alternative diets without your cancer doctor's help.

When to Call the Doctor

Call your doctor or nurse right away if you have any of these symptoms:

Temperature of 100.5 F (38 C) or above
Chills
Easy bruising or bleeding
Nausea that stops you from eating or drinking

Call your doctor or nurse as soon as possible if you have any of these symptoms:

Pain in your mouth or throat that makes it hard to eat or drink
Nausea that is not relieved by prescribed medicines
Yellowing of the skin or eyes
Signs of liver problems: dark urine, pale bowel movements, bad stomach pain, feeling very tired and weak, unusual itching, or yellowing of the eyes or skin

Reproductive Concerns

Infertility warning: Sexual problems and reproduction concerns may happen. In both men and women, this drug may affect your ability to have children. This cannot be determined before your treatment. Talk with your doctor or nurse if you plan to have children. Ask for information on sperm or egg banking.

Genetic counseling is available for you to talk about the effects of this drug therapy on future pregnancies. Also, a genetic counselor can look at the possible risk of problems in the unborn baby due to this medicine if an exposure happens during pregnancy.

Pregnancy warning: This drug may have harmful effects on the unborn child, so effective methods of birth control should be used during your cancer treatment.

Breast feeding warning: It is not known if this drug passes into breast milk. For this reason, women should talk to their doctor about the risks and benefits of breast feeding during treatment with this drug because this drug may enter the breast milk and badly harm a breast feeding baby.