Dacarbazine

Dacarbazine is an alkylating agent and a triazene derivative. Dacarbazine itself is inactive and must be metabolized in the liver by the cytochrome P450 system to form the active intermediate MTIC (5-(3-methyl-1-triazeno)imidazole-4-carboxamide). MTIC methylates DNA, with the O⁶ position of guanine being especially critical, although the N⁷ position can also be affected. This interferes with DNA replication and causes mispairing, ultimately triggering apoptosis due to extensive DNA damage.