Ado-trastuzumab Emtansine Injection

Ado-trastuzumab emtansine may cause serious or life-threatening liver problems. Tell your doctor if you have or have ever had liver disease, including hepatitis. Your doctor will order laboratory tests regularly before and during your treatment to see if ado-trastuzumab emtansine is affecting your liver. Your doctor may tell you that you should not receive this medication if the tests show that you have liver problems. Tell your doctor and pharmacist about all the medications you are taking so they can check whether any of your medications may increase the risk that you will develop liver damage during your treatment with ado-trastuzumab emtansine. Call your doctor immediately if you experience any of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, extreme tiredness, lack of energy, loss of appetite, pain in the upper right part of the stomach, yellowing of the skin or eyes, dark-colored urine, flu-like symptoms, confusion, drowsiness, or unclear speech.

Ado-trastuzumab emtansine also may cause serious or life-threatening heart problems. Tell your doctor if you have or have ever had heart disease, a heart attack, chest pain, or irregular heartbeats. Your doctor will order tests before and during your treatment to see if your heart is working well enough for you to safely receive ado-trastuzumab emtansine. Your doctor may tell you that you should not receive this medication if the tests show your heart’s ability to pump blood has decreased. If you experience any of the following symptoms, call your doctor immediately: cough; shortness of breath; swelling of the arms, hands, feet, ankles or lower legs; weight gain (more than 5 pounds [about 2.3 kilograms] in 24 hours); dizziness; loss of consciousness; or fast, irregular, or pounding heartbeat.

Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or if you or your partner plan to become pregnant. Ado-trastuzumab emtansine may harm your unborn baby. If you can become pregnant, you will need to have a negative pregnancy test before beginning treatment with ado-trastuzumab emtansine. You should use birth control to prevent pregnancy during your treatment and for 7 months after your final dose. If you are a male and your partner can become pregnant, you should use birth control while receiving this medication, and for 4 months after your final dose. Talk to your doctor about birth control methods that will work for you. If you or your partner become pregnant during your treatment with ado-trastuzumab emtansine, call your doctor immediately.

Talk to your doctor about the risks of receiving ado-trastuzumab emtansine injection.

🔔 Why is this medication prescribed?

Ado-trastuzumab emtansine injection is used to treat a certain type of breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body and has not improved or has worsened after treatment with other medications. Ado-trastuzumab emtansine is also used after surgery for a certain type of breast cancer in women who have had treatment with other chemotherapy medications before surgery, but there was still cancer remaining in the tissue removed during surgery. Ado-trastuzumab emtansine is in a class of medications called antibody-drug conjugates. It works by killing cancer cells.

🔔 How should this medicine be used?

Ado-trastuzumab emtansine injection comes as a powder to be mixed with liquid and infused (injected slowly) into a vein by a doctor or nurse in a hospital or medical facility. It is usually injected once every 3 weeks. The length of your treatment depends on how well your body responds to the medication and the side effects that you experience.

In the U.S., healthcare spending accounts for 17.7% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), or the total value of goods and services produced by the entire nation for the entire year, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Ado-trastuzumab emtansine injection may cause serious infusion-related reactions, which may occur during or shortly after the infusion of the medication. It should take 90 minutes for you to receive your first dose of ado-trastuzumab emtansine. A doctor or nurse will watch you closely to see how your body reacts to this medication. If you do not have any serious problems when you receive your first dose of ado-trastuzumab emtansine, it will usually take 30 minutes for you to receive each of your remaining doses of the medication. If you experience any of the following symptoms, tell your doctor immediately: flushing; fever; chills; dizziness; lightheadedness; fainting; shortness of breath; difficulty breathing; or fast, irregular, or pounding heartbeat.

Your doctor may need to delay your treatment, slow down the infusion, or stop your treatment if you experience certain side effects. Be sure to tell your doctor how you are feeling during your treatment with ado-trastuzumab emtansine.