Obinutuzumab Injection
You may already be infected with hepatitis B (a virus that infects the liver and may cause severe liver damage) but not have any symptoms of the disease. In this case, obinutuzumab injection may increase the risk that your infection will become more serious or life-threatening and you will develop symptoms. Tell your doctor if you have or ever had hepatitis B virus infection. Your doctor will order a blood test to see if you have an inactive hepatitis B virus infection. If necessary, your doctor may give you medication to treat this infection. Your doctor will also monitor you for signs of hepatitis B infection during and for several months after your treatment with obinutuzumab. If you experience any of the following symptoms during or after your treatment, call your doctor immediately: excessive tiredness, yellowing of the skin or eyes, loss of appetite, nausea or vomiting, stomach pain, or dark urine.
Some people who received obinutuzumab developed progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML; a rare infection of the brain that cannot be treated, prevented, or cured and that usually causes death or severe disability) during their treatment. If you experience any of the following symptoms, call your doctor immediately: new or sudden changes in thinking or confusion, dizziness, loss of balance, difficulty talking or walking, new or sudden changes in vision, or any other unusual symptoms that develop suddenly.
Keep all appointments with your doctor and the laboratory. Your doctor will order certain tests to check your body’s response to obinutuzumab injection.
Talk to your doctor about the risks of receiving obinutuzumab injection.
🔔 Why is this medication prescribed?
Obinutuzumab injection is used alone or in combination with other medication(s) to treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL; a type of cancer of the white blood cells) and to treat follicular non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL; a slow-growing blood cancer). Obinutuzumab injection is in a class of medications called monoclonal antibodies. It works by killing cancer cells.
Your doctor will review your specific type of cancer and past treatment history and other available treatments to determine if obinutuzumab is right for you.
Preventable medical errors kill about 22,000 patients a year, according to research from the Yale School of Medicine. That’s much less than a previously reported number of 250,000 deaths a year where medical error is to blame.
🔔 How should this medicine be used?
Obinutuzumab injection comes as a solution (liquid) to be added to fluid and slowly injected intravenously (into a vein) by a doctor or nurse in a medical office or hospital. Your doctor will select a schedule to give you obinutuzumab injection along with other medications that is best to treat your condition.
Your doctor may need to interrupt or stop your treatment if you experience certain side effects. Your doctor will give you other medications to prevent or treat certain side effects before you receive each dose of obinutuzumab injection. Tell your doctor or nurse if you experience any of the following during or within 24 hours after you receive obinutuzumab: dizziness, lightheadedness, fainting, fast heartbeat, chest pain, difficulty breathing, swelling of the throat, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, diarrhea, sudden reddening of the face, neck, or upper chest, rash, headache, chills, and fever.
Be sure to tell your doctor how you are feeling during your treatment with obinutuzumab injection.
🔔 Other uses for this medicine
This medication may be prescribed for other uses; ask your doctor or pharmacist for more information.
