Label: information for the patient
Lutathera 370 MBq/ml infusion solution
lutetium (177Lu) oxodotreotide
Read this label carefully before starting to use this medication, as it contains important information for you.
What is Lutathera
Lutathera contains lutetium (177Lu) oxodotreotide. This medication is a single radioisotope for treatment purposes.
How is Lutathera used
Lutathera is used for the treatment of adults with certain tumors (gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors), which cannot be completely eliminated from the body through surgery, have spread throughout the body (metastatic), or have stopped responding to their current treatment.
How Lutathera works
The tumor must have somatostatin receptors on the surface of its cells for the medication to be effective. Lutathera binds to these receptors and emits radiation directly into the tumor cells, causing their death.
The use of Lutathera involves exposure to a certain amount of radiation. Your doctor and the nuclear medicine physician have considered that the clinical benefit you will obtain from the procedure with the radiopharmaceutical outweighs the risk of radiation.
No use Lutathera
Warnings and precautions
Consult your doctor before starting to use Lutathera as it may cause:
Inform your doctor or another healthcare professional before or during treatment with Lutathera:
Inform your doctor or another healthcare professional immediately if after starting treatment with Lutathera you experience any of the following:
Unless your doctor has considered that the clinical benefit of treatment outweighs the possible risks, this medication will not be administered:
Before administration of Lutathera, you should
Children and adolescents
The safety and efficacy of this medication in children and adolescents under 18years have not been established. Talk to your doctor or nuclear medicine specialist if you are under 18years old.
Other medications and Lutathera
Inform your doctor or nuclear medicine specialist if you are taking, have taken recently, or may need to take any other medication, including over-the-counter medications, as they may interfere with your treatment. This includes, in particular, somatostatin analogs or glucocorticoids (also known as corticosteroids). If you are taking somatostatin analogs, you may be asked to suspend treatment for a short period.
Consult with your doctor or pharmacist if you are unsure if your medication is one of those mentioned above.
Pregnancy, breastfeeding, and fertility
If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, think you may be pregnant, or plan to become pregnant, consult your doctor or nuclear medicine specialist before using this medication.
Lutathera is contraindicated in pregnant women as ionizing radiation is hazardous to the fetus.Breastfeeding should be interrupted during treatment with this medication. Ifit is necessaryto administer Lutatheraduring breastfeeding, the mother will not continue breastfeeding.
You should inform your doctor and/or nuclear medicine specialist before administration of Lutathera if there is any possibility of pregnancy, if you have a delayed period, or if you are breastfeeding.
In case of doubt, it is essential to consult your nuclear medicine specialist or another healthcare professional who will oversee the procedure.
Female patients should use an effective contraceptive method during treatment with Lutathera and for 7months after completing treatment.
Male patients should use an effective contraceptive method during treatment with Lutathera and for 4months after completing treatment.
If you are a woman who may become pregnant, your doctor or another healthcare professional will check if you are pregnant and may perform a pregnancy test, if necessary, before starting treatment with Lutathera.
If you become pregnant or think you may be pregnant after starting treatment with Lutathera, inform your doctor and/or nuclear medicine specialist immediately.
The radiation from the medication may reduce your fertility. If you wish to have children after treatment, it is recommended that you undergo genetic counseling. Before treatment, you may be offered the possibility of cryopreserving sperm or eggs.
Driving and operating machinery
Lutathera is unlikely to affect your ability to drive and operate machinery. However, your general condition and possible side effects of treatment should be taken into account before driving or operating machinery.
Lutathera contains sodium
This medication contains up to 81.1mg of sodium (main component of table salt/for cooking) in each vial. This is equivalent to 4% of the maximum daily sodium intake recommended for an adult.
There are strict guidelines for the use, handling, and disposal of radioactive medications. Lutathera will only be used in specially controlled areas. This medication will only be handled and administered by trained and qualified personnel to ensure safe use. Those individuals will take special care in the safe use of this medication and will inform you of their actions.
How much Lutathera you will receive
The recommended dose is 7,400 MBq (Megabecquerel, a unit used to express radioactivity) in a single infusion, which is administered approximately once every 8 weeks for a total of 4 times.
Administration of Lutathera and procedure
Lutathera is administered directly into a vein.
Due to the radiation emitted by this medication, you will need to remain isolated from other patients who are not receiving the same treatment during the administration procedure. The doctor or other healthcare professional will inform you when you can leave the controlled area of the hospital.
In addition to Lutathera, you will receive an infusion of amino acids to protect your kidneys. This may cause nausea and vomiting, and before starting treatment, you will also receive an injection of an antiemetic to help reduce these symptoms.
Duration of the administration procedure
Your nuclear medicine doctor or other healthcare professional will inform you of the usual duration of the procedure.
The Lutathera infusion lasts 30 ±10 minutes, but the total duration of the administration procedure will be approximately 5 hours. During administration, your doctor will monitor your condition periodically.
Monitoring of treatment
The treatment with Lutathera may affect your blood cells, liver, and kidneys (see section 4). Therefore, your doctor will ask you to undergo regular blood tests to ensure that you are suitable to receive this treatment and to detect any adverse effects as soon as possible. If necessary, your heart activity will also be checked before discharge from the hospital (with an electrocardiogram or ECG test). Based on the results, your doctor may decide to postpone, modify, or suspend your treatment with this medication if necessary.
After administration of Lutathera
You will be asked to drink enough water (e.g., 1 glass of water every hour) to allow you to urinate as often as possible on the day of the infusion and the following day, and to try to defecate every day to eliminate the medication from your body.
As this is a radioactive medication, you must follow the instructions below to minimize exposure to radiation from other people unless your doctor tells you otherwise.
Based on current knowledge and experience in this field and the properties of the medication, it is estimated that the risks to the health of people living with you and the general public are low.
Contact with other people living with you
You should limit close contact (less than 1 meter) with people living with you for 7 days after receiving Lutathera. You should sleep in a separate room from other people for 7 days after receiving Lutathera.
Contact with children and/or pregnant women
After receiving Lutathera, it is strongly recommended that you limit close contact (less than 1 meter) with children and/or pregnant women to less than 15 minutes per day for 7 days. You should sleep in a separate room from children and/or pregnant women for 15 days after receiving Lutathera.
Use of toilets
It is strongly recommended that you defecate every day and, if necessary, use a laxative. Additionally, drink frequently and try to urinate as often as possible on the day of treatment and the following day. Follow the advice of your doctor or other healthcare professional regarding the amount of liquids you should drink.
Be especially careful to avoid contamination during the 7 days after treatment (applicable to all patients regardless of whether they are male or female):
Shower and laundry
During the first 7 days, take the following special precautions:
People with reduced mobility
People who need to stay in bed or have reduced mobility will receive assistance from a caregiver. It is recommended that when assistance is provided in the bathroom, the caregiver wear disposable gloves for 7 days after administration. Any medical equipment that may become contaminated with bodily fluids (e.g., catheters, colostomy bags, urinals, water bottles) should be emptied immediately into the toilet and cleaned afterwards. Caregivers who remove vomit, blood, urine, or feces should wear plastic gloves that should be disposed of in a separate plastic waste bag (see "Disposal Recommendations" below).
Disposal recommendations
All materials to be disposed of must be thrown away in a separate plastic waste bag that is used only for this purpose. Keep the waste bags separate from the rest of the trash and keep them out of reach of children and animals.
A hospital staff member will inform you how and when to dispose of these waste bags.
Hospitalization and emergency care
If you require emergency medical assistance or unplanned hospitalization within 3 months of treatment, you must inform healthcare professionals about the nature, date, and dose of your radioactive treatment. To facilitate this information, always carry your discharge report with you.
Travel
For at least 3 months after treatment, when traveling, always carry your discharge report with you.
Other precautions
Your nuclear medicine doctor or other healthcare professional will inform you if you need to take any special precautions after receiving this medication. Consult your doctor or nuclear medicine doctor if you have any doubts.
If you have received more Lutathera than you should
A single overdose is unlikely, as you will only receive a single controlled dose of Lutathera supervised by your nuclear medicine doctor or other healthcare professional. However, in the event of an overdose, you will receive the necessary treatment.
If you have any other questions about the use of Lutathera, ask your nuclear medicine doctor or other healthcare professional who supervises the procedure.
Like all medicines, this medicine can cause side effects, although not everyone will experience them.
The side effects of Lutathera are mainly related to radioactivity.
The side effect that has been observed most frequently in patients treated with Lutathera is its effect on the bone marrow. This can lead to a decrease in different types of blood cells, mainly red blood cells (cells responsible for transporting oxygen from the lungs to different organs), platelets (special cells that help blood to clot), and other blood cells, such as white blood cells (which help to fight infections). This occurs in many patients and is often temporary. However, in rare cases, the decrease in blood cells can be long-lasting and/or permanent.
As a consequence, a decrease in different types of blood cells can put you at risk of bleeding, fatigue, difficulty breathing, and infection. If this occurs, your doctor may decide to postpone, modify, or suspend treatment.
Some side effects can be serious
If you experience any serious side effect,inform your doctor immediately:
Very common:can affect more than 1 in 10people
Common:can affect up to 1 in 10people
Rare:can affect up to 1 in 100people
Unknown frequency:cannot be estimated from available data
Other possible side effects
Other side effects include those listed below. If those side effects become serious, inform your doctor or another healthcare professional.
Very common:can affect more than 1 in 10people
Common:can affect up to 1 in 10people
Rare:can affect up to 1 in 100people
During treatment with Lutathera, you may also experience side effects from abnormal results of blood tests that can provide your doctor with information about the functioning of certain parts of your body.
Common:can affect up to 1 in 10people
Rare:can affect up to 1 in 100people
During treatment with Lutathera, it is possible that you will also undergo medical/ surgical procedures.
Common:
Rare:
Reporting side effects
If you experience any type of side effect, consult your doctor or nuclear medicine doctor, even if it is a possible side effect that does not appear in this prospectus. You can also report them directly through thenational notification system includedin theAppendix V.By reporting side effects, you can contribute to providing more information about the safety of this medicine.
This medication does not need to be stored by the patient. This medication is stored under the responsibility of the specialist in suitable facilities. Storage of radiopharmaceuticals will be carried out in accordance with national regulations on radioactive materials.
The following information is intended solely for the specialist:
Appearance of the product and contents of the container
Lutathera is a transparent, colorless to slightly yellowish infusion solution, supplied in a colorless type I glass vial, closed with a bromobutyl rubber stopper and sealed with an aluminum seal.
One vial contains a volume of solution varying from 20.5 to 25.0ml, corresponding to an activity of 7400MBq on the date and time of infusion.
The vial is enclosed within a lead container for protection.
Marketing Authorization Holder
Advanced Accelerator Applications
8-10 Rue Henri Sainte-Claire Deville
France
Responsible Person
Advanced Accelerator Applications Ibérica, S.L.U.
Polígono Industrial la Cuesta – Sector 3
Parcelas 1 and 2 La Almunia de Doña Godina
50100 Zaragoza
Spain
Advanced Accelerator Applications (Italy) S.r.l
Via Ribes 5
10010
Colleretto Giacosa (TO)
Italy
For more information about this medicinal product, please contact the local representative of the marketing authorization holder:
Belgium Novartis Pharma N.V. Tel: +32 2 246 16 11 | Lithuania SAM Nordic Sweden Tel: +46 8 720 58 22 |
Luxembourg Novartis Pharma N.V. Tel: +32 2 246 16 11 | |
Czech Republic Novartis s.r.o. Tel: +420 225 775 111 | Hungary Novartis Hungária Kft. Tel.: +36 1 457 65 00 |
Denmark SAM Nordic Sweden Tel: +46 8 720 58 22 | Malta Novartis Pharma Services Inc. Tel: +356 2122 2872 |
Netherlands Novartis Pharma B.V. Tel: +31 88 04 52 111 | |
Estonia SAM Nordic Sweden Tel: +46 8 720 58 22 | Norway SAM Nordic Sweden Tlf: +46 8 720 58 22 |
Austria Novartis Pharma GmbH Tel: +43 1 86 6570 | |
Spain Advanced Accelerator Applications Ibérica, S.L.U. Tel: +34 97 6600 126 | Poland Advanced Accelerator Applications Polska Sp. z o.o. Tel.: +48 22 275 56 47 |
France Advanced Accelerator Applications Tel: +33 1 55 47 63 00 | Portugal Novartis Farma - Produtos Farmacêuticos, S.A. Tel: +351 21 000 8600 |
Croatia Novartis Hrvatska d.o.o. Tel. +385 1 6274 220 | Romania Novartis Pharma Services Romania SRL Tel: +40 21 31299 01 |
Ireland Novartis Ireland Limited Tel: +353 1 260 12 55 | Slovenia Novartis Pharma Services Inc. Tel: +386 1 300 75 50 |
Iceland SAM Nordic Sweden Tel: +46 8 720 58 22 | Slovakia MGP, spol. s r.o. Tel: +421 254 654 841 |
Italy Novartis Farma S.p.A. Tel: +39 02 96 54 1 | Finland SAM Nordic Sweden Tel: +46 8 720 58 22 |
Cyprus ΒΙΟΚΟΣΜΟΣA.E. Greece Tel: +30 22920 63900 | Sweden SAM Nordic Tel: +46 8 720 58 22 |
Latvia SAM Nordic Sweden Tel: +46 8 720 58 22 | United Kingdom (Northern Ireland) Novartis Ireland Limited Tel: +44 1276 698370 |
Last update of this leaflet
Other sources of information
The detailed information on this medicinal product is available on the website of the European Medicines Agency:http://www.ema.europa.eu.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------This information is intended for healthcare professionals only:
The full technical dossier of Lutathera is included as a separate document in the product packaging, with the aim of providing healthcare professionals with additional scientific and practical information on the administration and use of this radiopharmaceutical.
Please refer to the technical dossier.
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