Blood Cancer | Cancer NZ

MabThera is a Prescription Medicine. For detailed information click here ...

MabThera® (rituximab) is a Prescription Medicine used to treat non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (types of blood cancer). MabThera should not be used if you have had an allergic reaction to MabThera, proteins of mouse origin or any of the ingredients listed on the medicine pack. Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or breastfeeding; or have had any immunisation recently; or are allergic to any other medicines, foods, dyes or preservatives; or have any other health problems including: heart disease, certain blood disorders (e.g. low white blood cells or platelets), hepatitis B or lung disease. Possible unwanted effects include: Common (during the infusion or a few hours afterward): fever, chills and severe shivering; nausea; fatigue; headache; runny nose; pain at the tumour site; skin rash or itchiness; shortness of breath; swelling of the face, lips, mouth, tongue or throat; drop in blood pressure; flushing; pain at site of infusion. Common (at any time): dizziness; insomnia, agitation, or anxiety; anaemia; pain in stomach, chest, back or neck; aching, weak, tender or stiff muscles; painful or swollen joints; indigestion, constipation or diarrhoea; difficulty swallowing; loss of appetite or weight loss; cough; sweating or night sweats; tingling, numbness or decreased sensitivity of the hands or feet; bleeding or bruising more easily; high blood sugar; high blood pressure; fast or irregular heart beat; throat irritation or mouth ulcers; watery or itchy eyes; pain or buzzing/ringing in the ears; infections. Rare (serious): severe skin rash, itching, hives; severe swelling of the face, lips, mouth, throat, hands, feet or ankles; severe shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, wheezing or coughing; frequent infections; numbness of the face; severe vision or hearing loss; vision loss with headaches; confusion and seizures; problems thinking or memory loss; changes in the way you move, walk or talk; decreased strength or weakness; severe stomach pain, nausea or vomiting, yellowing of skin and eyes, light coloured bowel motions, dark coloured urine. Ask your doctor if MabThera is right for you. Use strictly as directed. If symptoms continue or you experience side effects or would like further information please talk to your doctor or pharmacist or visit www.medsafe.govt.nz for MabThera Consumer Medicines Information. MabThera (100 mg/10 mL and 500 mg/50 mL single use vials) is a funded medicine under Special Authority for patients who meet pre-defined criteria. A prescription charge and normal doctor’s fees may apply. Consumer panel based on CMI dated 14 June 2011. Roche Products (New Zealand) Limited, Auckland. Ph 0800 656 464. www.roche.co.nz. All trademarks mentioned herein are protected by law.

For more information please view the MabThera Consumer Medicine Information. Access to this site is subject to the terms in our Legal Statement; you accept these terms by continuing to access this site. ID989/DA4011BR/2011JUN

Neulastim is a Prescription Medicine. For detailed information click here ...

Neulastim® (pegfilgrastim, 6 mg in 0.6 mL PFS) is a Prescription Medicine used for reducing the duration and incidence of neutropenia (decrease in white blood cells) and infection, in patients treated with chemotherapy. Neulastim should not be used if you have had an allergic reaction to Neulastim, filgrastim (Neupogen®), E-coli-derived proteins or any of the ingredients listed on the medicine pack; if you are currently receiving chemotherapy or radiotherapy, or have received chemotherapy in the last 24 hours. Tell your doctor if you have other health problems, including myelodysplastic syndrome, leukaemia, spleen problems, sickle cell disease, you are receiving high dose chemotherapy, you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant or are breastfeeding. Possible unwanted effects: nausea, vomiting, headache, bone, joint or muscle pain; swelling, pain or itching at injection site; skin rash or red itchy spots, breathlessness, difficulty breathing, pain in the chest area. Ask your doctor if Neulastim is right for you. Use strictly as directed. If symptoms continue or you experience side effects or would like further information, please talk to your health professional or visit www.medsafe.govt.nz for Neulastim Consumer Medicines Information.

Neulastim is listed under Part II and Part IV of Section H of the Pharmaceutical Schedule. Funding is at the discretion of the DHB.

Neulastim® is sold under license from Amgen Inc. Neulastim® is a trademark of Amgen Inc. Consumer panel dated 5 December 2011, based on CMI dated 31 March 2011. Roche Products (New Zealand) Limited, Auckland; Phone 0800 656 464. www.roche.co.nz. All trademarks mentioned herein are protected by law.
ID1128/DA4011BR/2011DEC

What is Leukaemia and Lymphoma?

Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia (CLL) and Lymphoma (also called non Hodgkin’s lymphoma or NHL) are commonly referred to as blood cancer and are types of cancer that cause white blood cells to behave abnormally. In lymphoma the white blood cells form lumps in the lymph nodes and/or other parts of the body. In leukaemia cancer cells are found and accumulate in the bone marrow and blood.

CLL and NHL are more common in men than women with the average age at diagnosis being between 60 and 65 years of age.

In New Zealand NHL is the sixth most common cancer and the third most common cancer in children. More than 800 new cases of lymphoma are diagnosed each year with over 85% of these being NHL. CLL is the most common leukaemia, accounting for more than 30% of all leukaemias. More than 120 new cases of CLL are diagnosed each year.

Diagnosing CLL and NHL

Diagnosing CLL and NHL is a skilful process that requires a combination of tests too numerous to go into any detail here. Firstly, your doctor will want to talk to you about your general health, lifestyle choices and family history. Usually your doctor will take some blood tests, although these alone will not usually diagnose the disease, but will act as an indicator to keep testing. Other tests are likely to involve biopsies (small tissue samples) taken from the bone marrow and/or lymph nodes. Depending on the findings of some of these tests, your doctor may include x-rays like CT scans and/or a MRI.

Treatment of CLL and NHL

CLL usually develops and progresses slowly over many months or years and most people have no symptoms of their disease when they are first diagnosed. In these cases people often require no treatment for a long time, apart from regular checkups. Others may need to be treated soon after they are diagnosed.

If someone with lymphoma begins to have symptoms, or if their major organs or bone marrow becomes affected, they usually start treatment straight away. When deciding how to treat your lymphoma it is important to know how fast it is likely to grow and cause problems to your body. This is called the grade of your lymphoma. Some types of lymphoma grow slowly and cause few symptoms and may not need to be treated urgently; these are known as indolent lymphomas. Others grow more quickly and generally need to be treated soon after they are diagnosed. These are known as aggressive lymphomas.

Treatment for NHL usually involves chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. Chemotherapy but not radiotherapy is often used to treat CLL. Stem cell transplantation, steroid therapy and immunotherapy (monoclonal antibodies) such as MabThera may also be used.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is a treatment with one or a combination of anti cancer medicines that aim to destroy or control cancer cells and works by killing cells that divide rapidly, one of the main properties of cancer cells. This means that it also harms cells that divide rapidly under normal circumstances: cells in the bone marrow, digestive tract and hair follicles; this results in the most common side effects of chemotherapy – myelosuppression (decreased production of white blood cells), mucositis (inflammation of the lining of the digestive tract) and alopecia (hair loss).

Today chemotherapy is often combined with immunotherapy (although immunotherapy can also be used on its own). This gives improved results in delaying progression of the disease for many months or years and increasing overall survival.

MabThera is an immunotherapy treatment that targets B-cell lymphoma by mimicking the way that the body’s own immune system naturally defends itself. You might also hear it described as monoclonal antibody therapy.

MabThera can be prescribed for the treatment of patients with:

Previously untreated or relapsed indolent non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
Previously untreated aggressive non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
Maintenance treatment of patients with indolent non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
Previously untreated or relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukaemia

MabThera is funded for the first two points above and is also funded for NHL under Special Authority, otherwise patients have to pay for treatment themselves. MabThera is also an unfunded medicine for CLL, your Oncologist will be able to tell you what it may cost to be treated with MabThera.

Read more about MabThera at the consumer medicines information site. For more information about MabThera click on the product logo.

Managing the side effects of Chemotherapy

One of the common side effects of chemotherapy is a low white blood cell count. White blood cells fight infection so when these are low you are at increased risk of developing an infection, which can be life threatening. This condition is called neutropenia. Neulastim is used following chemotherapy to increase the number of white blood cells. This can reduce your chance of developing infections that might require treatment with antibiotics and/or hospital stays. These complications of chemotherapy can mean delays in your treatment and affect how well your treatment works. Neulastim may also help to keep your chemotherapy treatment on schedule. Read more about Neulastim on the site for consumer medicines information (CMI). For more information about Neulastim click on the product logo.