Dosage
- Treatment of lymphomatous meningitis is divided into a three distinct dosing schedules. Each therapy differs in when the drug is to be administered:
-Consolidation therapy: the patient is given 50 mg every 14 days for 3 doses. Doses are administered in weeks 5, 7, and 9. An additional dose is given in week 13.
-Maintenance: the patient is given 50 mg every 28 days for 4 doses. Doses are administered in weeks 17, 21, 25, and 29.
- In addition to the administration of Depocyt, the patient should be administered dexamethasone to moderate adverse reactions.
Administration
Depocyt does not contain any preservatives; therefore, it should be used within 4 hours of withdrawing it from the vial. It is, however, highly recommended that it should be administered as soon as it is withdrawn from the vial. To administer the drug, it needs to be directly injected into the cerebral spinal fluid via intraventicular or intralumbar administration methods. The drug should slowly be injected, which could take up to 5 minutes, into the body. After administration, the patient is advised to lie flat for one hour. Any unused amount of the drug should be disposed of. Most importantly, the drug should be administered by a qualified physician with chemotherapy medication experience.