PATIENT INFORMATION LEAFLET
Herceptin 150mg powder for concentrate for solution for infusion
trastuzumab
Read this leaflet carefully before you start using this medicine, because
it contains important information for you.
Herceptin contains trastuzumab as its active substance, which is a monoclonal antibody. Monoclonal antibodies specifically recognize proteins or antigens. Trastuzumab is designed to selectively bind to an antigen called the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). The HER2 is found in large quantities on the surface of some cancer cells and stimulates the growth of these cells. When Herceptin binds to HER2, it slows down the growth of these cells, causing them to die.
Your doctor may prescribe Herceptin for the treatment of breast or stomach cancer when:
No use Herceptin:
components of this medication (listed in section 6).
Warnings and precautions
Your doctor will closely monitor your treatment.
Cardiac reviews
Treatment with Herceptin alone or in combination with a taxane may affect the heart, especially if you have ever received an anthracycline (taxanes and anthracyclines are two types of medications used to treat cancer). The effects can be moderate to severe and may be fatal. Therefore, you should review your cardiac function before, during (every three months), and after (up to two to five years) treatment with Herceptin. If you develop any signs of heart failure, (inadequate blood pumping by the heart), your doctor will check how your heart functions more frequently (every six to eight weeks), you may receive treatment for heart failure or you may need to interrupt treatment with Herceptin.
Consult your doctor, pharmacist, or nurse before receiving Herceptin if:
If you receive Herceptin with any other medication to treat cancer, such as paclitaxel, docetaxel, an aromatase inhibitor, capecitabine, 5-fluorouracil, or cisplatin, you should also read the prospectuses for these medications.
Children and adolescents
Herceptin is not recommended for individuals under 18 years old.
Other medications and Herceptin
Use of Herceptin with other medications: Inform your doctor, pharmacist, or nurse if you are using, have used recently, or may need to use any other medication.
It may take up to 7 months for Herceptin to be completely eliminated from the body. Therefore, if you are to take any new medication within 7 months of completing treatment, you should inform your doctor, pharmacist, or nurse that you have been treated with Herceptin.
Pregnancy and breastfeeding
Breastfeeding
You should not breastfeed your baby during Herceptin therapy and for up to 7 months after the last dose of Herceptin as Herceptin may reach your baby through breast milk.
Consult your doctor or pharmacist before taking a medication.
Driving and operating machinery
Herceptin may affect your ability to drive a vehicle or operate machinery. If you experience symptoms during treatment, such as dizziness, drowsiness, chills, or fever, you should not drive or use machinery until these symptoms disappear.
Before starting treatment with Herceptin, your doctor will determine the amount of HER2 in your tumor. Only patients with a large amount of HER2 will be treated with Herceptin. Herceptin must be administered only by a doctor or nurse. Your doctor will prescribe an appropriate dose and treatment regimen foryou. The dose of Herceptin depends on your body weight.
There are two different types (formulations) of Herceptin:
It is essential to review the medication labeling to ensure that the correct formulation is being administered as prescribed. The intravenous formulation of Herceptin is not for subcutaneous administration and must only be administered intravenously.
Your doctor may consider switching your treatment from intravenous Herceptin to subcutaneous Herceptin (or vice versa) if deemed appropriate for you.
The intravenous formulation of Herceptin is administered as an intravenous infusion (“drip”) directly into a vein. The first dose of your treatment is administered over 90 minutes, and you will be monitored by a healthcare professional while receiving it, in case any adverse reactions occur. If the initial dose is well tolerated, subsequent doses may be administered in 30 minutes (see section 2 “Warnings and precautions”). The number of infusions you can receive will depend on your response to treatment. Your doctor will inform you about this.
To avoid medication errors, it is essential to check the labels on the vials to ensure that the medication being prepared and administered is Herceptin (trastuzumab) and notanother product containing trastuzumab (e.g.trastuzumab emtansine or trastuzumab deruxtecan).
For early-stage breast cancer, metastatic breast cancer, and metastatic gastric cancer, Herceptin will be administered every 3 weeks. Herceptin can also be administered once a week for metastatic breast cancer.
If you interrupt treatment with Herceptin
Do not stop treatment with this medication without first speaking with your doctor. All doses must be taken at the correct time, either weekly or every 3 weeks (depending on your dosing schedule). This helps your medication work effectively.
It may take up to 7 months for Herceptin to be eliminated from your body. Therefore, your doctor may decide to continue monitoring your heart function even after completing your
treatment.
If you have any other questions about using this medication, ask your doctor, pharmacist, or nurse.
Like all medicines, Herceptin can cause side effects, although not everyone will experience them. Some of these side effects can be severe and require hospitalization.
During the administration of a Herceptin infusion, you may experience chills, fever, and other symptoms similar to the flu. This is very common (it can affect more than 1 in 10 people). Other symptoms related to the infusion are: feeling unwell (nausea), vomiting, pain, muscle tension, agitation, headache, dizziness, difficulty breathing, changes in blood pressure, heart rhythm changes (palpitations, arrhythmias, or irregular heartbeat), facial and lip swelling, rash, and feeling tired. Some of these symptoms can be severe and some patients have died (see section 2 "Warnings and precautions").
These side effects mainly occur during the first intravenous infusion ("drip" in vein) and during the first hours after the start of the infusion. They are usually temporary. A healthcare professional will monitor you during the infusion and, for at least six hours, after the start of the first infusion and during two hours after the start of the rest of the infusions. If you have any reaction, they may be able to administer the infusion more slowly or stop the infusion and give you treatment to counteract the side effects. The infusion can continue once your symptoms have improved.
Occasionally, symptoms start after 6 hours after the start of the infusion. If this happens to you, contact your doctor immediately. Sometimes, symptoms can improve and worsen later.
Severe side effects
Other side effects can occur at any time during treatment with Herceptin and are not related to the infusion.Inform your doctor or nurse if you experience any of the following side effects:
Your doctor will monitor your heart periodically during and after treatment, but you should inform your doctor immediately if you notice any of the symptoms described above.
If you experience any of these symptoms after your treatment with Herceptin has ended, consult your doctor and inform them that you were previously treated with Herceptin.
Very common side effects of Herceptin:can affect more than 1 in 10 people:
Common side effects of Herceptin:can affect up to 1 in 10 people:
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Rare side effects of Herceptin:can affect up to 1 in 100 people:
Very rare side effects of Herceptin:can affect up to 1 in 1,000 people:
Other side effects reported with the use of Herceptin:could not be estimated from the available data:
abnormal blood clotting or coagulation insufficiency
high potassium levels
inflammation or hemorrhages in the back of the eyes
shock
abnormal heart rhythm
difficulty breathing
respiratory insufficiency
acute fluid accumulation in the lungs
acute narrowing of the airways
abnormally low oxygen levels in the blood
difficulty breathing while lying down
liver damage
inflammation of the face, lips, and throat
renal failure
abnormally low fluid levels surrounding the fetus in the womb
lung failure in the fetus
abnormal kidney development in the fetus
Some of the side effects you may experience may be due to your cancer. If you are given Herceptin in combination with chemotherapy, some of the side effects may also be due to the chemotherapy itself.
If you experience side effects, inform your doctor, pharmacist, or nurse.
Reporting side effects
If you experienceany type of side effect, consult your doctor, pharmacist, or nurse, even if it is apossibleside effect that does not appear in this prospectus.You can also report them directly through thenational reporting system included in the6HAppendix V. By reporting side effects, you can contribute to providing more information about the safety of this medicine.
Herceptin will be stored by healthcare professionals in the hospital or clinic.
Composition of Herceptin
Appearance of the product and contents of the pack
Herceptin is a lyophilized powder for concentrate for solution for intravenous infusion, presented in a glass vial with a rubber stopper that contains 150 mg of trastuzumab. It is a white to pale yellow pellet powder. Each pack contains 1 vial of powder.
Marketing Authorization Holder
Roche Registration GmbH
Emil-Barell-Strasse 1
79639 Grenzach-Wyhlen
Germany
Responsible for manufacturing
Roche Pharma AG
Emil-Barell-Strasse 1
79639 Grenzach-Wyhlen
Germany
You can request more information about this medicine by contacting the local representative of the marketing authorization holder.
Czech Republic Roche s. r. o. Tel.: +420 - 2 20382111 | Hungary Roche (Magyarország) Kft. Tel.: +36 - 1 279 4500 |
Denmark Roche Pharmaceuticals A/S Tel.: +45 - 36 39 99 99 | Malta (See Ireland) |
Germany Roche Pharma AG Tel.: +49 (0) 7624 140 | Netherlands Roche Nederland B.V. Tel.: +31 (0) 348 438050 |
Estonia Roche Eesti OÜ Tel.: + 372 - 6 177 380 | Norway Roche Norge AS Tel.: +47 - 22 78 90 00 |
Greece Roche (Hellas) A.E. Tel.: +30 210 61 66 100 | Austria Roche Austria GmbH Tel.: +43 (0) 1 27739 |
Spain Roche Farma S.A. Tel: +34 - 91 324 81 00 | Poland Roche Polska Sp.z o.o. Tel.: +48 - 22 345 18 88 |
France Roche Tel: +33 (0) 1 47 61 40 00 | Portugal Roche Farmacêutica Química, Lda Tel.: +351 - 21 425 70 00 |
Croatia Roche d.o.o. Tel.: +385 1 4722 333 | Romania Roche România S.R.L. Tel.: +40 21 206 47 01 |
Ireland Roche Products (Ireland) Ltd. Tel.: +353 (0) 1 469 0700 | Slovenia Roche farmacevtska družba d.o.o. Tel.: +386 - 1 360 26 00 |
Iceland Roche Pharmaceuticals A/S c/o Icepharma hf Tel.: +354 540 8000 | Slovakia Roche Slovensko, s.r.o. Tel.: +421 - 2 52638201 |
Italy Roche S.p.A. Tel.: +39 - 039 2471 | Finland Roche Oy Tel: +358 (0) 10 554 500 |
Cyprus Γ. Α. Σταμούτης & Σια Λτδ Tel.: +357 - 22 76 62 76 | Sweden Roche AB Tel.: +46 (0) 8 726 1200 |
Lithuania Roche Latvija SIA Tel.: +371 - 6 7039831 | United Kingdom (Northern Ireland) Roche Products (Ireland) Ltd. Tel: +44 (0) 1707 366000 |
Last update of this leaflet:
The detailed information on this medicine is available on the website of the European Medicines Agency:7Hhttp://www.ema.europa.eu/
This leaflet is available in all languages of the European Union/European Economic Area on the website of the European Medicines Agency.
This information is intended solely for healthcare professionals:
Herceptin IV is provided in sterile, non-pyrogenic, non-preserved, and single-use vials.
To avoid medication errors, it is essential to check the labels on the vials to ensure that the medication being prepared and administered is Herceptin (trastuzumab) and not another product containing trastuzumab (e.g., trastuzumab emtansine or trastuzumab deruxtecan).
Always keep this medicine in its original closed container at a temperature of 2°C-8°C in a refrigerator.
Use appropriate aseptic techniques for the reconstitution and dilution procedures. Ensure the sterility of the prepared solutions. Since the medicine does not contain antimicrobial preservatives or bacteriostatic agents, use aseptic techniques.
The reconstituted Herceptin vial with sterile water for injectable preparations (not supplied) is chemically and physically stable for 48 hours at 2°C-8°C after reconstitution and should not be frozen.
After aseptic dilution in 250ml bags of chlorinated polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, or polypropylene containing 0.9% sodium chloride solution, the physical and chemical stability of Herceptin has been demonstrated for a period of up to 30 days at 2°C-8°C and 24 hours at a temperature not exceeding 30°C.
From a microbiological point of view, the reconstituted solution and the Herceptin infusion solution should be used immediately. If not used immediately, the storage time until use and the conditions of such storage before use will be the responsibility of the user and, in general, should not be more than 24 hours between 2°C and 8°C, unless reconstitution and dilution take place under controlled and validated aseptic conditions.
Storage, handling, and aseptic preparation:
Aseptic handling should be ensured when preparing the infusion. The preparation should be:
Each vial of Herceptin should be reconstituted with 7.2ml of water for injectable preparations (not supplied). Avoid using other solvents for reconstitution. This produces a 7.4ml single-dose solution containing approximately 21mg/ml of trastuzumab. A 4% volume overload allows the 150mg dose reflected on the label to be extracted from each vial.
Handle Herceptin carefully during reconstitution. If excessive foam forms during reconstitution or the reconstituted Herceptin is agitated, it may cause problems with the amount of Herceptin that can be extracted from the vial.
Aseptic reconstitution instructions:
1) Using a sterile syringe, slowly inject 7.2ml of water for injectable preparations into the vial containing the Herceptin lyophilisate, directing the flow towards the lyophilisate.
2) Gently move the vial in a circular motion to help reconstitution. DO NOT SHAKE!
The formation of a slight foam after reconstitution is usual. Leave the vial at rest for approximately 5 minutes. The reconstituted Herceptin is a transparent, colorless to pale yellow solution and should be essentially free of visible particles.
Aseptic dilution instructions for the reconstituted solution:
Determine the required solution volume:
Volume(ml) =Body weight(kg) xDose(4mg/kg initial dose or2mg/kg for subsequent doses)
21(mg/ml, reconstituted solution concentration)
Volume(ml) =Body weight(kg) xDose(8mg/kg initial dose or 6mg/kg for subsequent doses)
21(mg/ml, reconstituted solution concentration)
Determine the required solution volume:
Volume(ml) =Body weight(kg) xDose(8mg/kg initial dose or 6mg/kg for subsequent doses)
21(mg/ml, reconstituted solution concentration)
Determine the required solution volume:
Volume(ml) =Body weight(kg) xDose(8mg/kg initial dose or 6mg/kg for subsequent doses)
21(mg/ml, reconstituted solution concentration)
Determine the required solution volume:
Volume(ml) =Body weight(kg) xDose(8mg/kg initial dose or 6mg/kg for subsequent doses)
21(mg/ml, reconstituted solution concentration)
Determine the required solution volume:
Volume(ml) =Body weight(kg) xDose(8mg/kg initial dose or 6mg/kg for subsequent doses)
21(mg/ml, reconstituted solution concentration)
Determine the required solution volume:
Volume(ml) =Body weight(kg) xDose(8mg/kg initial dose or 6mg/kg for subsequent doses)
21(mg/ml, reconstituted solution concentration)
Determine the required solution volume:
Volume(ml) =Body weight(kg) xDose(8mg/kg initial dose or 6mg/kg for subsequent doses)
21(mg/ml, reconstituted solution concentration)
Determine the required solution volume:
Volume(ml) =Body weight(kg) xDose(8mg/kg initial dose or 6mg/kg for subsequent doses)
21(mg/ml, reconstituted solution concentration)
Determine the required solution volume:
Volume(ml) =Body weight(kg) xDose(8mg/kg initial dose or 6mg/kg for subsequent doses)
21(mg/ml, reconstituted solution concentration)
Determine the required solution volume:
Volume(ml) =Body weight(kg) xDose(8mg/kg initial dose or 6mg/kg for subsequent doses)
21(mg/ml, reconstituted solution concentration)
Determine the required solution volume:
Volume(ml) =Body weight(kg) xDose(8mg/kg initial dose or 6mg/kg for subsequent doses)
21(mg/ml, reconstituted solution concentration)
Determine the required solution volume:
Volume(ml) =Body weight(kg) xDose(8mg/kg initial dose or 6mg/kg for subsequent doses)
21(mg/ml, reconstituted solution concentration)
Determine the required solution volume:
Volume(ml) =Body weight(kg) xDose(8mg/kg initial dose or 6mg/kg for subsequent doses)
21(mg/ml, reconstituted solution concentration)
Determine the required solution volume:
Volume(ml) =Body weight(kg) xDose(8mg/kg initial dose or 6mg/kg for subsequent doses)
21(mg/ml, reconstituted solution concentration)
Determine the required solution volume:
Volume(ml) =Body weight(kg) xDose(8mg/kg initial dose or 6mg/kg for subsequent doses)
21(mg/ml, reconstituted solution concentration)
Determine the required solution volume:
Volume(ml) =Body weight(kg) xDose(8mg/kg initial dose or 6mg/kg for subsequent doses)
21(mg/ml, reconstituted solution concentration)
Determine the required solution volume:
Volume(ml) =Body weight(kg) xDose(8mg/kg initial dose or 6mg/kg for subsequent doses)
21(mg/ml, reconstituted solution concentration)
Determine the required solution volume:
Volume(ml) =Body weight(kg) xDose(8
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