Clolar (Clofarabine) for Leukemia

Overview
Clolar is a prescription medication approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in children and young adults up to the age of 21. Clolar is indicated in cases where leukemia has relapsed or failed to respond after at least two previous drug regimens. Clolar may also be referred to by its drug name, clofarabine.

Clolar is an anticancer drug. Clolar is a member of a class of drugs called antimetabolites. Clolar is believed to work by interfering with the DNA synthesis in replicating cancer cells.

How do I take it?
Clolar is administered by intravenous infusion for five consecutive days. Treatment may be repeated every two to six weeks.

Clolar comes in the form of a single-use vial.

Side effects
The FDA-approved label for Clolar lists common side effects including headache, fever, chills, fatigue, rash, itching, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, nosebleeds, anxiety, pain in extremities, tachycardia (rapid heart rate), hypotension (low blood pressure), and low blood cell counts.

Sepsis, a potentially fatal systemic infection, is both a common and severe side effect of Clolar.

Rare but serious side effects listed for Clolar include life-threatening hemorrhages, liver damage, and tumor lysis syndrome — a potentially fatal metabolic condition caused when many cancer cells die at the same time. Other serious side effects include potentially fatal skin reactions known as Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis. Clolar can also cause fetal harm in pregnant women and may cause a cytokine release syndrome (CRS), a potentially fatal inflammatory reaction.

For more details about this treatment, visit:

Clolar — RxList
https://www.rxlist.com/clolar-drug.htm

ALL: Relapsed and Refractory — Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
https://www.lls.org/leukemia/acute-lymphoblasti...