Degarelix and how it Works

1. Degarelix and how it Works
By: Erol Onel

2. Degarelix and how it Works
Erol Onel, a resident of California, is the vice president of the medics pain management
firm Heron Therapeutics. An expert in reproductive health, Erol Onel has worked
extensively with male fertility and treatments such as bupivacaine liposome injectable
suspension, flibanserin, and degarelix.

3. Degarelix and how it Works
With the trade name Firmagon, degarelix is a hormone therapy that is used to treat forms
of prostate cancer that rely on hormones to grow, which are known as advanced
hormone dependent prostate cancers. Patients receive the treatment via an injection into
the abdomen. After an initial two injection treatment, degarelix injections occur once a
month.

4. Degarelix and how it Works
Degarelix works by triggering a hormonal chain reaction that ultimately suppresses the
production of testosterone, which is a hormone used by prostrate cancer to grow.
Degarelix first affects pituitary gland hormone receptors located in the brain that release
gonadatrophin. This triggers the suppression of the hormone luteinising that causes the
production of testosterone. For this reason, degarelix is referred to as a gonadatrophin
releasing hormone blocker.