How may I benefit from ADCETRIS?
Study design
A clinical study of 58 people evaluated the effectiveness and safety of ADCETRIS in patients with relapsed systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma who had at least 1 prior combination chemotherapy treatment.
- 58 people were given ADCETRIS every 3 weeks
Researchers reviewed the overall response rate (primary endpoint) and the median duration of response (secondary endpoint) at approximately 1 year.
Overall response rate
Most people treated with ADCETRIS had their cancer reduced or become undetectable
Median duration of response
For patients who responded with ADCETRIS, the median duration of response was 12.6 months.
The most important serious safety information
PROGRESSIVE MULTIFOCAL LEUKOENCEPHALOPATHY (PML): Patients treated with ADCETRIS can have a rare, serious brain infection called PML that can lead to death. Tell your doctor immediately if you have mood or behavior changes, confusion, problems in thinking or loss of memory, changes in vision, speech, or walking, or decreased strength or weakness on one side of the body. PML may also be caused by prior treatments or diseases that weakened your immune system.
Do not take ADCETRIS if you are receiving bleomycin due to pulmonary toxicity (serious
lung problems).
Adcetris can cause other serious side effects including nerve damage, allergic and infusion reactions, blood problems, serious infections, tumor lysis syndrome (TLS), serious side effects for patients with severe kidney or moderate to severe liver disease, liver problems, lung problems, serious skin problems, gastrointestinal problems, high blood sugar (hypoglycemia) and fetal harm. Some of these cases resulted in death. Please see Important Safety Information below or Important Facts about ADCETRIS to learn more.
Most common side effects while taking ADCETRIS
In people treated with ADCETRIS alone, the most common side effects that occurred in ≥20% of study patients were significantly low numbers of white blood cells (55%), low red blood cell count (52%), nerve damage (peripheral sensory neuropathy; PN) (53%), feeling tired (41%), fever (38%), nausea (38%), rash (31%), diarrhea (29%), and pain (28%).
The most common serious side effects were septic shock (multiple organ failure brought on by body-wide infection) (3%), very fast heart rate (supraventricular arrhythmia) (3%), pain in hands or feet (3%), and urinary tract infection (3%).
For more information on serious side effects and other side effects, please see the Important Safety Information at the bottom of this page and read the Important Facts about ADCETRIS, including BOXED WARNING.
Tell your doctor about any side effect concerns you have
Don't stop, change, or delay your ADCETRIS treatment unless directed by your doctor. Your doctor may take additional steps to help manage side effects, including:
- Reducing your ADCETRIS dosage, or delaying your next dose, until symptoms improve
- Stopping ADCETRIS completely if side effects are severe or do not improve
For more information about understanding side effects, download a copy of the ADCETRIS side effects guide
Learn more about what you can expect before starting ADCETRIS treatment.
Glossary
Median: The middle number in a list of numbers.
Overall response rate: The percentage of people in a study or treatment group who have a partial response or complete response to the treatment within a certain period of time. Measuring the overall response rate is one way to see how well a new treatment works.
Relapse: When cancer has returned after signs and symptoms of cancer had reduced or became undetectable.
Systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma (sALCL): A fast-growing type of T-cell lymphoma. It may appear in the skin, lymph nodes, bones, soft tissues, lungs, or liver.