Carmustine: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Carmustine is an alkylating drug sold in the U.S. under 2 brand and generic names, for brain neoplasms, carcinoma and colonic neoplasms. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Drug class
- Alkylating Drug
- Treats (across its forms)
- Brain Neoplasms, Carcinoma and Colonic Neoplasms
- Available as
- Wafer · Kit
- Sold as
- 2 products — Gliadel and Bicnu
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Not in our catalog
- Boxed warning
- Boxed warning
How Bicnu is dosed
From the FDA label for Bicnu (application NDA017422). Other carmustine products — different forms, different strengths — are dosed differently. Follow the label for the one you were prescribed.
Recommended Dosage: As a single agent, 150 to 200 mg/m 2 Carmustine for Injection intravenously every 6 weeks as a single dose or divided into daily injections such as 75 to 100 mg/m 2 on 2 successive days. Adjust dose for combination therapy or in patients with reduced bone marrow reserve (2.1) Administer reconstituted solution only as a slow intravenous infusion over at least 2 hours. (2.2) 2.1 Dosage The recommended dose of Carmustine for Injection, USP as a single agent in previously untreated patients is 150 to 200 mg/m 2 intravenously every 6 weeks. Administer as a single dose or divided into daily injections such as 75 to 100 mg/m 2 on two successive days. Lower the dose when Carmustine for Injection is used with other myelosuppressive drugs or in patients in whom bone marrow reserve is depleted. Administer Carmustine for Injection for the duration according to the established regimen. Premedicate each dose with anti-emetics. Adjust doses subsequent to the initial dose according to the hematologic response of the patient to the preceding dose. The following schedule is suggested as a guide to dosage adjustment: Nadir After Prior Dose Percentage of Prior Dose to be Given Leukocytes/mm 3 Platelets/mm 3 >4000 >100,000 100% 3000-3999 75,000-99,999 100% 2000-2999 25,000-74,999 70% <2000 <25,000 50% The hematologic toxicity can be delayed and cumulative. Monitor blood counts…
Everything below is the FDA label for Bicnu (kit). Carmustine is also sold as wafer, and those are different medicines to take — follow the label for the one you were prescribed.
Bicnu side effects
The following serious adverse reactions are described elsewhere in the labeling: Myelosuppression [see Warnings and Precautions (5.1) ] Pulmonary toxicity [see Warnings and Precautions (5.2) ] Administration Reactions [see Warnings and Precautions (5.3) ] Carcinogenicity [see Warnings and Precautions (5.4) ] Ocular Toxicity [see Warnings and Precautions (5.5) ] The following adverse reactions associated with the use of Carmustine for Injection were identified in clinical studies or postmarketing reports. Because some of these reactions were reported voluntarily from a population of uncertain size, it is not always possible to reliably estimate their frequency or establish a causal relationship to drug exposure. Cardiac Disorders Tachycardia and chest pain. Eye Disorders Conjunctival edema, conjunctival hemorrhage, blurred vision and loss of depth perception Gastrointestinal Toxicity Nausea, vomiting, anorexia, and diarrhea Hepatotoxicity Increased transaminase, increased alkaline phosphatase, increased bilirubin levels Infections and Infestations Opportunistic infection (including with fatal outcome). Neoplasms Benign, Malignant and Unspecified (including cysts and polyps) Acute leukemia, bone marrow dysplasias. Nephrotoxicity Progressive azotemia, decrease in kidney size, renal failure Nervous System Disorders Headaches, encephalopathy, and seizures Pulmonary Toxicity…
Who shouldn’t take Bicnu
Hypersensitivity (4) Carmustine for Injection is contraindicated in patients with previous hypersensitivity to Carmustine for Injection or its components.
Bicnu drug interactions
Cimetidine: Increased myelosuppression with concomitant use. (7.1) Phenobarbital: Induces carmustine metabolism, reducing exposure. May lead to reduced efficacy. (7.1) Phenytoin: Carmustine for Injection may reduce the efficacy of phenytoin. (7.2) 7.1 Effect of other drugs on Carmustine for Injection Cimetidine: Greater myelosuppression (e.g., leukopenia and neutropenia) has been reported when oral cimetidine has been coadministered with carmustine. Consider alternative drugs to cimetidine. Phenobarbital: Phenobarbital induces the metabolism of carmustine and may compromise antitumor activity of Carmustine for Injection. Consider alternative drugs to phenobarbital. 7.2 Effect of Carmustine for Injection on other drugs Phenytoin: Carmustine for Injection when coadministered with phenytoin may reduce phenytoin serum concentrations. Consider alternative drugs to phenytoin.
Every carmustine product we track (2)
Same active ingredient — different manufacturer, form, price and FDA recall record. That last one is what our independent score measures.
| # | Drug | Rating | Type | Form | Generic? | Pharmacy pays | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 70/100 | Prescription | Wafer | No data | — | View → | |
| 2 | Not yet rated | Prescription | Kit | No data | — | View → |
How long carmustine keeps
The date on a sealed pack is not the only one: some carmustine labels start a second clock once the product is opened or mixed, as short as 24 hours.
Does carmustine expire? The in-use limits and storage rules from its labelsCarmustine and breastfeeding
From LactMed, the US National Library of Medicine’s Drugs and Lactation Database — quoted, not rewritten.
Full LactMed record for carmustine: levels in milk, effects in breastfed infants, and the drugs it would consider insteadNo information is available on the use of carmustine during breastfeeding. Most sources consider breastfeeding to be contraindicated during maternal antineoplastic drug therapy, especially alkylating agents such as carmustine. The manufacturer recommends that breastfeeding be discontinued during carmustine therapy and for 1 month after the last dose.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, record revised August 16, 2021. LactMed states its information is not a substitute for professional judgement.
What people report to the FDA about carmustine
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 4,032 reports naming carmustine, and the FDA flagged 98% of those reports as serious. The effects reported most often — leaving out reports about overdose, misuse or the condition being treated, which dominate the raw list for common medicines:
- febrile neutropenia381 reports
- myelodysplastic syndrome289 reports
- thrombocytopenia228 reports
- mucosal inflammation209 reports
- pyrexia205 reports
- neutropenia204 reports
- pneumonia190 reports
- acute myeloid leukaemia173 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean carmustine caused the effect — anyone can file one, and many describe people taking several medicines for several conditions. Crucially there is no denominator: FAERS does not record how many people took the drug, so these counts cannot be turned into “X% of patients” — a bigger number often just means a more widely used or more talked-about drug. Duplicates exist, and publicity drives reporting. For what is actually established, read the FDA label section above.
Source: openFDA drug/event (FAERS), retrieved July 25, 2026.
Related calculators
Frequently asked questions
What is Bicnu?
Bicnu (Carmustine) is an alkylating drug used to treat Brain Neoplasms, Carcinoma, Colonic Neoplasms, Ependymoma.
What kind of drug is carmustine?
The FDA classifies carmustine as an alkylating drug. Alkylating chemotherapy drugs attach chemical groups to a cell's DNA, forming cross-links that lock the two DNA strands together. This damage stops the cell from copying its DNA and dividing, which triggers it to die; because they are not limited to one phase of the cell cycle, they can act on cells whether or not they are actively dividing. If you are checking whether it is safe to combine with something else, the class is what matters — two drugs from the same class usually should not be stacked.
Can you take carmustine with other medicines?
It depends on the medicine. We check it against the FDA labels rather than guessing: our interaction checker searches each drug's own label for the other and quotes what it says, naming the section it came from. Run carmustine against whatever else you take — and remember that a label not naming a drug is not the same as that combination being safe.
What brand names is carmustine sold under?
We track 2 carmustine-containing products in the U.S.: Gliadel and Bicnu. They are the same active ingredient; they differ in form, manufacturer, price and FDA recall record.
What forms does carmustine come in?
Across the brands we track, carmustine is currently marketed as wafer and kit, per the FDA's National Drug Code Directory. Each form is dosed differently — follow the label for the exact product you were prescribed.
Is there a generic carmustine?
We do not currently list a generic-labelled carmustine product. That does not always mean none exists — it means none appears under a generic name in the FDA data we track. Ask your pharmacist.
Cite this page
- APA
- pharmaranks. (2026, July 24). Carmustine: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/carmustine
- MLA
- “Carmustine: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/carmustine.
We summarise public FDA and NIH sources — for a clinical claim, cite the primary source we link to as well.
Sources: FDA openFDA drug label, National Drug Code Directory, and Enforcement (recall) database. This page reproduces public FDA data and is not medical advice. Dosing is set by your prescriber.
Read the full FDA label for carmustine on DailyMed (NIH) ↗ — including its boxed warning in full.