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Dacogen – dispensed over 3 days instead of 5

This topic has 3 replies, 1 voice, and was last updated 16 years, 3 months ago by Russ P..

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January 26, 2008 at 2:29 am #20113

LuAnn
Member

Hi, My dad is on Dacogen and receives the med via IV 5 days in a row with a break of 4 weeks between cycles. So far he has had 2 cycles. The med hits him really hard and I saw that some pts on the forum are receiving the Dacogen over a 3 day period every 6 weeks. I’d like to know why it’s dispensed over 3 days instead of 5. Is it to accommodate a certain schedule or is it to cut the reaction (side effects) of the meds. I want to talk with my dad’s doctor about reducing the dosage but would like some additional information from you all before I do. Appreciateany info you can share.

January 26, 2008 at 9:29 pm #20114

jaxem
Member

LuAnn
normally, the manufacturer recommends 3 day admin be given for 3 hours at 3x/day=27 hours admin @ 15 mg/sq meter body area = 405 mg total. MD Anderson did an accepted 5 day trial where it is given once/day over 3 hours for 5 days at 20 mg/sq meter body area = 300 mg total. yes, the 3 day gets more dacogen into patient but trial results show similar results. then it seems each doc is rolling their own recipes considering the above 2 protocols are usually given over a 6 week period. i see that your doc is doing it over 4 weeks. i would find out what concentration dacogen (mg/sq meter body area) the doc plans to use. hey, this is as precise as it gets in treating leukemia/mds patients. you need to stay on top of it all. my wife’s current admin gives her 15 mg/sq meter for one hour/day over 10 days but she also takes valproic acid with it per another MD Anderson protocol.

January 28, 2008 at 12:02 pm #20115

LuAnn
Member

Thanks Jack. This is very helpful and I’ll review with the doctor.

January 29, 2008 at 5:17 pm #20116

Russ P.
Member

LuAnn,
I sent this e-mail to Dr. Issa at MD Anderson: “Noted that on the Dacogen web page it shows the dosage as 15mg/m², IV over 3 hours, every 8 hours for 3 days, cycle repeated every 6 weeks. By comparison the 1st week I had 40mg over an hour each day for 5 days – to be repeated every 4 weeks.” This is his reply: “Your doctor is following our own advice/protocol, which we think is better than the FDA approved dose that is on the web page.”
Hope this helps,
Russ
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