Fluorouracil (Intravenous Route, Injection Route)

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Fluorouracil (Intravenous Route, Injection Route)

US Brand Names

Description

Fluorouracil belongs to the group of medicines known as antimetabolites. It is used to treat cancer of the colon, rectum, breast, stomach, and pancreas. It may also be used to treat other kinds of cancer, as determined by your doctor.

Fluorouracil interferes with the growth of cancer cells, which are eventually destroyed. Since the growth of normal body cells may also be affected by fluorouracil, other effects will also occur. Some of these may be serious and must be reported to your doctor. Other effects, like hair loss, may not be serious but may cause concern. Some effects may not occur for months or years after the medicine is used.

Before you begin treatment with fluorouracil, you and your doctor should talk about the good this medicine will do as well as the risks of using it.

Fluorouracil is to be administered only by or under the immediate supervision of your doctor.

Once a medicine has been approved for marketing for a certain use, experience may show that it is also useful for other medical problems. Although these uses are not included in product labeling, fluorouracil is used in certain patients with the following medical conditions:

• Cancer of the outside layer of the adrenal gland
• Cancer of the anus
• Cancer of the bladder
• Cancer of the cervix
• Cancer of the endometrium
• Cancer of the ovaries
• Cancer of the esophagus
• Cancer of the head and neck
• Cancer of the penis
• Cancer of the liver
• Cancer of the prostate
• Cancer of the skin
• Cancer of the vulva
• Carcinoid tumors
• Hepatoblastoma (a certain type of liver cancer that occurs in children)
• Glaucoma, during and after certain surgery (trabeculectomy)

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