
Indications and Usage
FUSILEV is a folate analog indicated for:
- Use in combination chemotherapy with 5-FU in the palliative treatment of patients with advanced mCRC.
- Rescue after high-dose methotrexate therapy in osteosarcoma.
- Diminishing the toxicity and counteracting the effects of impaired methotrexate elimination and of inadvertent overdosage of folic acid antagonists.
Limitations of Use
- FUSILEV is not approved for pernicious anemia and megaloblastic anemias. Improper use may cause a hematologic remission while neurologic manifestations continue to progress
Important Safety Information
Contraindications
- FUSILEV is contraindicated for patients who have had previous allergic reactions attributed to folic acid or folinic acid.
Warnings and Precautions
- Due to Ca++ content, no more than 16 mL (160 mg) of levoleucovorin solution should be injected intravenously per minute.
- FUSILEV enhances the toxicity of fluorouracil.
- Concomitant use of d,l-leucovorin with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole for Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in HIV patients was associated with increased rates of treatment failure in a placebo-controlled study.
Adverse Reactions
- Allergic reactions were reported in patients receiving FUSILEV.
- The most common adverse reactions (>50%) in patients with advanced colorectal cancer receiving FUSILEV in combination with 5-FU were diarrhea, nausea and stomatitis.
- Vomiting (38%), stomatitis (38%) and nausea (19%) were reported in patients receiving FUSILEV as rescue after high dose methotrexate therapy.
Drug Interactions
- FUSILEV may counteract the antiepileptic effect of phenobarbital, phenytoin and primidone, and increase the frequency of seizures in susceptible patients.
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