Skip to main content

Government Funding Lapse
Because of a lapse in government funding, the information on this website may not be up to date, transactions submitted via the website may not be processed, and the agency may not be able to respond to inquiries until appropriations are enacted.

The NIH Clinical Center (the research hospital of NIH) is open. For more details about its operating status, please visit cc.nih.gov.

Updates regarding government operating status and resumption of normal operations can be found at opm.gov.

finasteride

A synthetic 4-azasteroid compound. Finasteride competitively binds to and inhibits steroid type II 5-alpha-reductase in the prostate gland, liver, and skin, thereby interfering with the enzymatic conversion of testosterone to 5-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and reducing serum DHT levels. The reduction in serum DHT levels results in diminished stimulation of androgen receptors in the nuclei of prostate cells and, so, diminished prostate cell proliferation.

Check for active clinical trials using this agent View this agent in the NCI Thesaurus

US brand name:	Proscar
Foreign brand name:	Chibro-Proscar Finastid Pro-Cure Prostide Uprosan
Code name:	MK 906
Chemical structure:	(5alpha,17beta)-N-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-3-oxo-4-azaandrost-1-ene-17-carboxamide

finasteride

Search NCI's Drug Dictionary