It works by catalyzing the deamidation of asparagine to aspartic acid and ammonia, reducing circulating levels of asparagine. This makes leukemia cells unable to synthesize asparagine. Asparaginase reduces the exogenous asparagine source for the leukemic cells, resulting in cytotoxicity specific to leukemic cells.
For ALL, it can be administered as intravenous or intramuscular.
The correct dose would be 25,000 units/m2 three times weekly.
There is no dose adjustment for renal patients, however for and adult with hepatic issues, you better check the treatment guidelines, but mainly you have to consider the levels of ALT/AST
2 Comments
is it used for anything other than Leukemia?
Hello Aurora,
Thank you for your comment. Actually it use used in ALL and in mast cell tumor.
However there is a non medical use for it, as a processing aid.