Cytoxan

Description

Cyclophosphamide belongs to the group of medicines called alkylating agents. It is used to treat cancer of the ovaries, breast, blood and lymph system, nerves (found primarily in children), retinoblastoma (a cancer of the eye found primarily in children), multiple myeloma (cancer in the bone marrow), and mycosis fungoides (tumors on the skin).

Cyclophosphamide is also used for treatment of some kinds of kidney disease.

Cyclophosphamide may also be used for other conditions as determined by your doctor.

Cyclophosphamide interferes with the growth of cancer cells, which are eventually destroyed. Since the growth of normal body cells may also be affected by cyclophosphamide, 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 cyclophosphamide, you and your doctor should talk about the good this medicine will do as well as the risks of using it.

Cyclophosphamide is available only with your doctor's prescription.

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, cyclophosphamide is used in certain patients with the following medical conditions:

• Cancer of the bladder
• Cancer in the bones
• Cancer of the cervix
• Cancer of the endometrium
• Cancers of the lungs
• Cancer of the prostate
• Cancer of the testicles
• Cancer of the adrenal cortex (the outside layer of the adrenal gland)
• Ewing's sarcoma (a certain type of bone cancer)
• Germ cell tumors in the ovaries (a cancer in the egg-making cells in the ovary)
• Gestational trophoblastic tumors (a certain type of tumor in the uterus/womb)
• Soft tissue sarcomas (a cancer of the muscles, tendons, vessels that carry blood or lymph, joints, and fat)
• Thymoma (a cancer in the thymus, a small organ beneath the breastbone)
• Tumors in the brain
• Waldenström's macroglobulinemia (a certain type of cancer of the blood)
• Wilms' tumor (a cancer of the kidney found primarily in children)
• Histiocytosis X (a certain type of cancer found primarily in children)
• Organ transplant rejection (prevention)
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Wegener's granulomatosis
• Systemic lupus erythematosus
• Systemic dermatomyositis or
• Multiple sclerosis (a disease of the nervous system)

Common Brand Names:

Cytoxan

Cytoxan Lyophilized