Flucytosine

This week flucytosine (5-FC) will be released to the medical profession. It is the first new drug in approximately 15 years with activity in the systemic mycoses. The occasion prompts the following observations and caveats.The range of infections treatable with 5-FC is remarkably limited: from animal and human studies candida species and Cryptococcus neoformans. A less frequently pathogenic yeast, Torulopsis glabrata, is sensitive in vitro, and success has been claimed in three of five cases reported so far. In animal infections chemotherapeutic activity has been found against Aspergillus fumigatus, but no clinical data encountered so far . . .