Example orders for weekly 5-FU & Leucovorin in colon cancer

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Remember that example order sets that may contain additional information about supportive medications, suggestions for monitoring, hydration, and pre-treatment screening information for chemotherapy regimens are purely anecdotal, provided only as examples of what some other providers may be using, and are typically not based on references in the primary literature.

Weekly 5-FU & Leucovorin

Original references may be found at weekly 5-FU & Leucovorin

Example regimen #1

• Folinic acid (Leucovorin) 20 mg/m² IV over 2 hours on days 1, 8, 15, given first
• Fluorouracil (5-FU) 500 mg/m² IV bolus on days 1, 8, 15, given 1 hour after start of leucovorin

28-day cycles

Supportive medications:

• Prochlorperazine (Compazine) 10 mg PO prn nausea

Hydration:

• 500 ml NS at KVO rate as running IV for chemotherapy infusion. Give up to 500 ml NS.

Monitoring:

• Hold if patient has significant diarrhea/mucositis, ANC <1000, or platelets <100 and notify physician.

Comments:

• My institution administers this regimen with a 3 weeks on, 1 week off schedule for every 28-day cycle.