About busulfan
Alkylating chemotherapy medicine
Used for
- With other medicines before stem-cell transplant to treat blood cancers.
- Occasionally used in transplant conditioning for certain blood disorders.
Usual adult dose
Usually 0.8 mg/kg intravenously every six hours for four days, with other conditioning medicines; dosing is specialist-directed.
Usual dose in children
Individualized weight-based intravenous dosing for transplant conditioning; specialist-directed.
Common side effects
- Low blood-cell counts and infection risk
- Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and mouth sores
- Liver injury, including veno-occlusive disease
- Seizures and lung injury
Important warnings
- Can cause severe, prolonged bone-marrow suppression and life-threatening infections or bleeding.
- May cause seizures; preventive anti-seizure medicine is commonly given.
- Can cause serious liver injury; close monitoring is required.
- Can harm fertility and cause fetal harm; pregnancy should be avoided during treatment.
Pregnancy
May cause fetal harm. Avoid pregnancy during treatment; discuss reliable contraception with the oncology team.
Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding is not recommended during treatment because of potential serious harm to the infant.
Interactions
- Itraconazole, metronidazole, and other medicines may increase busulfan exposure or toxicity.
- Acetaminophen may affect busulfan clearance; avoid around dosing unless the oncology team directs otherwise.
- Phenytoin can alter busulfan exposure; antiseizure treatment requires specialist review.
AI-generated from general medical knowledge, not from this product's official leaflet. It may be incomplete or out of date. Not medical advice — ask a pharmacist or doctor before making any decision.