WARNING
Ado-trastuzumab emtansine may result in severe or fatal liver issues. If you have liver illness, including hepatitis, or have ever had it, let your doctor know. Before and during your therapy, your doctor will routinely conduct laboratory tests to see whether ado-trastuzumab emtansine is having an impact on your liver. If the tests reveal that you have liver issues, your doctor may advise against using this drug. Give your doctor and pharmacist a complete list of all the medications you take so they can determine whether any of them could make you more likely to experience liver damage while receiving therapy with ado-trastuzumab emtansine. If you develop any of the following symptoms, contact your doctor right away: nausea, vomiting, excessive fatigue, lack of energy, appetite loss, discomfort in your upper right stomach, yellowing of the skin or eyes, dark urine, flu-like symptoms, disorientation, sleepiness, or slurred speech.
Ado-trastuzumab emtansine may also result in significant or fatal heart issues. If you experience or have ever experienced heart disease, a heart attack, chest pain, or irregular heartbeats, let your doctor know. Before and during your treatment, your doctor will arrange tests to determine whether your heart is healthy enough for you to safely take ado-trastuzumab emtansine. If tests reveal that your heart’s capacity to pump blood has deteriorated, your doctor could advise against taking this drug. Call your doctor right away if you have any of the following symptoms: A cough, shortness of breath, swelling of the arms, hands, feet, ankles, or lower legs, weight increase of more than 5 pounds (2.3 kilogrammes) in 24 hours, dizziness, loss of consciousness, or rapid, irregular heartbeat are all symptoms that could indicate an infection.
Inform your doctor if you’re expecting a child or if you or your partner intend to conceive one. Your unborn child could be harmed by ado-trastuzumab emtansine. Before starting therapy with ado-trastuzumab emtansine, you must have a negative pregnancy test if you are capable of getting pregnant. Throughout your therapy and for seven months following your last dose, you should take birth control to avoid getting pregnant. Use birth control while taking this medication and for 4 months following your last dose if you’re a man and your partner has the potential to become pregnant. Discuss effective birth control options with your doctor. Ado-trastuzumab emtansine medication should not be interrupted if you or your partner become pregnant. Call your doctor right away.
The dangers of receiving an injection of ado-trastuzumab emtansine should be discussed with your doctor.
Why is this medication prescribed?
A specific type of breast cancer that has spread to other body areas and not improved or gotten worse after treatment with other drugs is treated with ado-trastuzumab emtansine injection. Women who have received treatment with different chemotherapy drugs prior to surgery but who still have cancer in the tissue removed during surgery can also use ado-trastuzumab emtansine to treat a specific kind of breast cancer. The medicine ado-trastuzumab emtansine belongs to the category of drugs known as antibody-drug conjugates. It eliminates cancer cells to work.
How should this medicine be used?
In a hospital or other medical institution, a doctor or nurse may mix powder with liquid before slowly injecting the mixture into a vein. This medication is called ado-trastuzumab emtansine injection. Typically, it is injected once every three weeks. The effectiveness of the drug on your body and any adverse effects you encounter will determine how long you need to receive treatment.
Serious infusion-related side effects from ado-trastuzumab emtansine injection might happen while or just after the drug is infused. You should get your first dosage of ado-trastuzumab emtansine in 90 minutes. You will be regularly monitored by a doctor or nurse to determine how your body responds to this drug. It typically takes 30 minutes for each of your subsequent doses of ado-trastuzumab emtansine to be administered if you do not have any major side effects after receiving your first dosage. Tell your doctor right away if you have any of the following symptoms: flushing, fever, chills, lightheadedness, dizziness, fainting, shortness of breath, breathing difficulties, or a rapid, irregular, or pounding heartbeat.
If you have specific adverse effects, your doctor may need to postpone your treatment, cut down the infusion, or even stop it. Throughout your ado-trastuzumab emtansine treatment, be sure to let your doctor know how you are feeling.
Other uses for this medicine
Ask your doctor or pharmacist for more details if you believe this drug should be used for something else.
What special precautions should I follow?
Before receiving ado-trastuzumab emtansine,
- If you have an allergy to trastuzumab, ado-trastuzumab emtansine, any other drugs, or any of the ingredients in ado-trastuzumab emtansine injection, let your doctor and pharmacist know right away. For a list of the ingredients, ask your doctor or pharmacist.
- Inform your doctor and pharmacist about all prescription and over-the-counter drugs, vitamins, dietary supplements, and herbal products that you are now taking or intend to use. Mention the drugs in the IMPORTANT WARNING section as well as any of the following: Aspirin (Durlaza, in Aggrenox, among others), apixaban (Eliquis), cilostazol (Pletal), atazanavir (Reyataz, in Evotaz), clarithromycin (Biaxin, in Prevpac), dabigatran (Pradaxa), dalteparin (Fragmin), dipyridamole (Persantine, in Aggrenox), edox (Lovenox), heparin, nelfinavir (Viracept), ritonavir (Norvir, in Kaletra, Technivie, Viekira Pak), saquinavir (Invirase), telithromycin (Ketek), ticagrelor (Brilinta), vorapaxar (Zontivity), voriconazole (Vfend), and warfarin are some of the medications that are included in this list (Coumadin, Jantoven). Your physician might need to adjust the dosage of your drugs or keep a close eye on you for side effects.
- If you have problems breathing, even while resting, radiation therapy, or any other medical issue, let your doctor know that you are Asian-American or if you have previously had any of the conditions listed in the IMPORTANT WARNING section.
- Inform your doctor if you are nursing a child. While receiving ado-trastuzumab emtansine injection and for 7 months following your final dosage, you shouldn’t breastfeed.
What special dietary instructions should I follow?
If you plan to consume grapefruit or grapefruit juice while taking this medicine, consult your doctor.
What side effects can this medication cause?
Side effects with ado-trastuzumab emtansine are possible. If any of these symptoms are severe or do not go away, let your doctor know right once:
- Constipation
- Diarrhea
- Uneasy stomach
- A throat and mouth full with sores
- Mouth ache
- Changes in flavour perception
- Muscle or joint pain
- Headache
- Teary, dry, or red eyes
- Hazy vision
- Having difficulty falling or staying asleep
Some adverse effects can be very harmful. Call your doctor right away if you have any of these signs or any of those in the IMPORTANT WARNING section:
- Near the site of the injection of the medicine, there may be pain, itching, redness, swelling, blisters, or sores.
- Fever, chills, a sore throat, trouble peeing, discomfort when urinating, and other infection-related symptoms
- Bleeding from the nose and other strange bleeding or bruises
- Tarry, black, or bloody stools
- Vomiting blood or what looks like coffee grinds in colour
- Muscle weakness, tingling, burning, or pain in the hands or feet, as well as difficulty moving
- Hives
- Rash
- Itching
- Breathing or swallowing challenges
- Nausea, vomiting, lack of appetite, weariness, quickening heartbeat, dark urine, reduced urine flow, stomach pain,
- Seizures, hallucinations, or cramps and spasms of the muscles
- Cough, shortness of breath, and excessive exhaustion
Other negative effects of ado-trastuzumab emtansine are possible. If you have any strange side effects while taking this medicine, call your doctor right away.
You or your doctor can submit a report to the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting programme online or by phone if you have a serious side event (1-800-332-1088).
In case of emergency/overdose
Call the poison control hotline at 1-800-222-1222 in the event of an overdose. Additionally, information can be found online at https://www.poisonhelp.org/help. Call 911 right once if the person has collapsed, experienced a seizure, is having difficulty breathing, or cannot be roused.
Overdose signs could include the following:
- Bleeding from the nose and other strange bleeding or bruises
- Tarry, black, or bloody stools
- Vomiting blood or what looks like coffee grinds in colour
What other information should I know?
Keep all of your appointments with your physician and the lab. Before you start your therapy, your doctor will run a lab test to determine whether ado-trastuzumab emtansine can treat your cancer.
You should keep a written record of every medication you take, including any over-the-counter (OTC) items, prescription drugs, and dietary supplements like vitamins and minerals. This list should be brought with you whenever you see a doctor or are admitted to the hospital. You should always have this information with you in case of emergencies.
Brand names
- Kadcyla®
