Thalidomide (N-phtalidoglutarimide) was developed in the 1950s as an effective antiemetic and sedative; it became very popular with pregnant women in Europe, was soon tragically linked with stunted limb growth (dysmelia) of newborns and discontinued. The drug was never approved in the USA until 1998, when it became commercially available as an antiangiogenic agent. Since it is generally well tolerated and appears to interfere with angiogenesis (although by an unknown mechanism), it is now being evaluated in Phase II trials in a variety of human cancers.
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