High-Dose Methotrexate: Nursing Considerations for Administration and Supportive Care

In 1948, Sydney Farber discovered that aminopterin, a precursor to modern methotrexate (MTX), effectively led to remission in acute leukemias (Chabner & Allegra, 2019). Further research with antifolates led to the development of MTX, a folate inhibitor that is administered as low-dose MTX for immunoinflammatory diseases and high-dose MTX (HDMTX) for other malignancies (Malaviya, 2016).