Understanding your metastatic breast cancer treatment is important
A diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer—breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body—can feel overwhelming. Whether you were recently diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer or have been fighting it for some time, seeking information and making the right treatment decisions are what matters most.
Today, there are many treatment options for metastatic breast cancer
When you are diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, it can be treated in many ways. During your treatment process, you may receive recommendations from your doctors for more than one type of cancer therapy. A comprehensive metastatic breast cancer treatment regimen can include radiation therapy, hormone therapy, targeted therapy, surgery, and chemotherapy. If you are diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, your doctor may suggest ABRAXANE, a chemotherapy used in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer.
Start learning more about ABRAXANE with the following links:
ABRAXANE is a prescription medicine for breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body. ABRAXANE is used after treatment with combination chemotherapy that has stopped working, including anthracyclines, if appropriate, or when the cancer has come back within 6 months of treatment after surgery.
Important Safety Information About ABRAXANE®
WARNING: LOW WHITE BLOOD CELL COUNT (NEUTROPENIA)
If your white blood cell count is below 1,500 cells/mm3 (neutropenia), you should not take ABRAXANE, since you may be more likely to get a serious infection. While taking ABRAXANE, you must get regular blood tests to check for any problems that could develop.
ABRAXANE contains albumin, a substance found in human blood. Albumin can affect the way other drugs work.
- Patients who have a severe allergic reaction to ABRAXANE should not take the drug again
- If you have a very low white blood cell count, you should not take ABRAXANE. If your white blood cell count goes down while taking ABRAXANE, you should stop taking it until your white blood cell count returns to normal. If your white blood cell count drops very low, your doctor will lower your dose of ABRAXANE
- People treated with ABRAXANE often have a side effect called sensory neuropathy, a numbness, tingling, or burning in the hands, feet, and ankles. If you get mild sensory neuropathy, you will probably not have to lower your dose of ABRAXANE. If sensory neuropathy becomes severe, you may have to stop taking ABRAXANE until it improves, and then continue treatment at a lower dose
- Treatment with ABRAXANE can make liver problems worse. If you have liver problems, your starting dose of ABRAXANE should be lowered
- ABRAXANE contains albumin (human), a derivative of human blood
- If you are pregnant, or plan to become pregnant, ABRAXANE can harm your unborn baby. Women who may become pregnant should use effective birth control (contraception). Talk to your doctor about the best way to prevent pregnancy while receiving ABRAXANE
- Because it is not known if ABRAXANE passes into your breast milk, you and your doctor should decide if you will receive ABRAXANE or breastfeed
- Men should not father a child during treatment with ABRAXANE. ABRAXANE can harm the unborn baby of your partner
- In a clinical trial, severe heart and blood vessel side effects occurred in approximately 3% of patients taking ABRAXANE. Side effects included chest pain, heart attack, fluid under the skin, blood clots in the veins or lungs, and high blood pressure. Stroke and heart failure were reported
- The most common side effects of ABRAXANE included:
- Hair loss
- Numbness or tingling in the hands or feet
- Abnormal heartbeat
- Tiredness
- Joint and muscle pain
- Changes in your liver function tests
- Low red blood cell count (anemia). Tell your doctor if you feel weak, tired or short of breath
- Nausea
- Infections. If you have a fever (temperature of greater than 100.4ยบ F) or other signs of infection, tell your doctor right away
- Diarrhea
- Other side effects included vision problems, kidney problems, fluid retention, liver problems, and allergic reactions, and a decrease in blood clotting cells (platelets). Dehydration and fever have also been reported
- Treatment with ABRAXANE can cause irritation where the medicine is injected (injection site reactions). When taking ABRAXANE, you should be monitored by your doctor or nurse to make sure no problems occur at the injection site
- It is not known whether ABRAXANE interacts with other drugs, so be sure to tell your doctor about any medicines you are taking
- ABRAXANE has not been studied in children or in people with kidney problems
Please see full Prescribing Information, including Boxed WARNING, CONTRAINDICATIONS, WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS, and ADVERSE REACTIONS.