Danazol relieves refractory pruritus associated with myeloproliferative disorders and other diseases

Luciano Kolodny, Lawrence L. Horstman, Bernd‐Uwe Sevin, Harvey E. Brown, Yeon S. Ahn
In: American Journal of Hematology · 1996 · vol. 51(2) , pp. 112–116 · doi:10.1002/(sici)1096-8652(199602)51:2<112::aid-ajh3>3.0.co;2-0 · PMID:8579050 · W2124749404
article OA: bronze CC0 ⤵ 2 in-corpus citations
🔓 Open OA copy View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by gemini-2.5-flash-lite, 2026-06-11 ⓘ

Danazol effectively controlled severe refractory pruritus in 12 out of 22 patients with myeloproliferative, autoimmune, or skin diseases without significant side effects.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

Severe pruritus is frequently associated with myeloproliferative and other systemic illnesses, and often fails to respond to conventional measures. We used danazol (Danocrine), a synthetic attenuated androgen, in the treatment of severe pruritus refractory to conventional therapy. Eight patients had myeloproliferative disorders (MPD), seven had autoimmune disorders, and seven had skin diseases. Danazol at 400-800 mg/day was administered, and previous medications were tapered off. When itching was controlled with danazol alone, the dosage was reduced or discontinued, and resumed if itching recurred. Clinical responses were graded, and side effects were monitored. Overall, in 12 of 22 patients refractory to other measures, itching was controlled with danazol alone. In 10 patients itching returned when danazol was discontinued or dosage was continued for up to 5 years in responders. No serious side effects were observed. Our experience indicates that danazol is a good alternative for patients with severe pruritus associated with myeloproliferative and other systemic disorders.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (25)

Cited by (2)

Source provenance

openalex
last seen: 2026-05-14T06:28:07.472223+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK