Fluconazole (Page 5 of 12)

INDICATIONS AND USAGE

Fluconazole Tablets USP are indicated for the treatment of:

1.

Vaginal candidiasis (vaginal yeast infections due to Candida).

2.

Oropharyngeal and esophageal candidiasis. In open noncomparative studies of relatively small numbers of patients, fluconazole was also effective for the treatment of Candida urinary tract infections, peritonitis, and systemic Candida infections including candidemia, disseminated candidiasis, and pneumonia.

3.

Cryptococcal meningitis. Before prescribing fluconazole for AIDS patients with cryptococcal meningitis, please see CLINICAL STUDIES section. Studies comparing fluconazole to amphotericin B in non-HIV infected patients have not been conduct

Prophylaxis

Fluconazole Tablets USP are also indicated to decrease the incidence of candidiasis in patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation who receive cytotoxic chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy.

Specimens for fungal culture and other relevant laboratory studies (serology, histopathology) should be obtained prior to therapy to isolate and identify causative organisms. Therapy may be instituted before the results of the cultures and other laboratory studies are known; however, once these results become available, anti-infective therapy should be adjusted accordingly.

CLINICAL STUDIES

Cryptococcal Meningitis

In a multicenter study comparing fluconazole (200 mg/day) to amphotericin B (0.3 mg/kg/day) for treatment of cryptococcal meningitis in patients with AIDS, a multivariate analysis revealed three pretreatment factors that predicted death during the course of therapy: abnormal mental status, cerebrospinal fluid cryptococcal antigen titer greater than 1:1024, and cerebrospinal fluid white blood cell count of less than 20 cells/mm³. Mortality among high risk patients was 33% and 40% for amphotericin B and fluconazole patients, respectively (p = 0.58), with overall deaths 14% (9 of 63 subjects) and 18% (24 of 131 subjects) for the 2 arms of the study (p = 0.48). Optimal doses and regimens for patients with acute cryptococcal meningitis and at high risk for treatment failure remain to be determined. (Saag, et al. N Engl J Med 1992; 326:83-9.)

Vaginal Candidiasis

Two adequate and well-controlled studies were conducted in the U.S. using the 150 mg tablet. In both, the results of the fluconazole regimen were comparable to the control regimen (clotrimazole or miconazole intravaginally for 7 days) both clinically and statistically at the one month post-treatment evaluation.

The therapeutic cure rate, defined as a complete resolution of signs and symptoms of vaginal candidiasis (clinical cure), along with a negative KOH examination and negative culture for Candida (microbiologic eradication), was 55% in both the fluconazole group and the vaginal products group.

	Fluconazole PO 150 mg tablet	Vaginal Product qhs x 7 days
Enrolled	448	422
Evaluable at late follow-up	347 (77%)	327 (77%)
Clinical cure	239/347 (69%)	235/327 (72%)
Mycologic erad.	213/347 (61%)	196/327 (60%)
Therapeutic cure	190/347 (55%)	179/327 (55%)

Approximately three-fourths of the enrolled patients had acute vaginitis (< 4 episodes/12 months) and achieved 80% clinical cure, 67% mycologic eradication, and 59% therapeutic cure when treated with a 150 mg fluconazole tablet administered orally. These rates were comparable to control products. The remaining one-fourth of enrolled patients had recurrent vaginitis (≥ 4 episodes/12 months) and achieved 57% clinical cure, 47% mycologic eradication, and 40% therapeutic cure. The numbers are too small to make meaningful clinical or statistical comparisons with vaginal products in the treatment of patients with recurrent vaginitis.

Substantially more gastrointestinal events were reported in the fluconazole group compared to the vaginal product group. Most of the events were mild to moderate. Because fluconazole was given as a single dose, no discontinuations occurred.

Parameter	Fluconazole PO	Vaginal Products
Evaluable patients	448	422
With any adverse event	141 (31%)	112 (27%)
Nervous system	90 (20%)	69 (16%)
Gastrointestinal	73 (16%)	18 (4%)
With drug-related event	117 (26%)	67 (16%)
Nervous system	61 (14%)	29 (7%)
Headache	58 (13%)	28 (7%)
Gastrointestinal	68 (15%)	13 (3%)
Abdominal pain	25 (6%)	7 (2%)
Nausea	30 (7%)	3 (1%)
Diarrhea	12 (3%)	2 (< 1%)
Application site event	0 (0%)	19 (5%)
Taste perversion	6 (1%)	0 (0%)

Pediatric Studies

Oropharyngeal Candidiasis

An open-label, comparative study of the efficacy and safety of fluconazole (2 to 3 mg/kg/day) and oral nystatin (400,000 I.U. 4 times daily) in immunocompromised children with oropharyngeal candidiasis was conducted. Clinical and mycological response rates were higher in the children treated with fluconazole.

Clinical cure at the end of treatment was reported for 86% of fluconazole-treated patients compared to 46% of nystatin-treated patients. Mycologically, 76% of fluconazole-treated patients had the infecting organism eradicated compared to 11% for nystatin-treated patients.

	Fluconazole	Nystatin
Enrolled	96	90
Clinical cure	76/88 (86%)	36/78 (46%)
Mycological eradication	55/72 (76%)	6/54 (11%)

^* Subjects without follow-up cultures for any reason were considered nonevaluable for mycological response.

The proportion of patients with clinical relapse 2 weeks after the end of treatment was 14% for subjects receiving fluconazole and 16% for subjects receiving nystatin. At 4 weeks after the end of treatment, the percentages of patients with clinical relapse were 22% for fluconazole and 23% for nystatin.