Thalidomide, once commonly prescribed to prevent vomiting in pregnant women, was withdrawn after it was found to cause birth defects. The medication, however, has been used selectively as an anticancer drug since that time because of its abilityrnto suppress growth of new blood vessels, which makes it potent against tumors. But thalidomide has many breakdown products in the body and it is not clear which ones are responsible for antiangio-genesis-nor have researchers been able to explain exactly how thalidomide causes birth defects.
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