Details

Gemcitabine is a cancer medicine that interferes with the growth and spread of cancer cells in the body. Gemcitabine is used to treat cancers of the pancreas, lung, ovary, and breast. To make sure gemcitabine is safe for you, tell your doctor if you have kidney disease liver disease (especially cirrhosis) a history of alcoholism or if you are receiving radiation treatment. Do not use gemcitabine if you are pregnant.

Typical Uses

Gemcitabine is used alone or with other treatments/medications to treat certain types of cancer (including breast, lung, ovarian, pancreatic). It is a chemotherapy drug that works by slowing or stopping the growth of cancer cells. This drug may also be used to treat certain other cancers, such as bladder cancer.

Side Effects

A rare but serious side effect of gemcitabine is called capillary leak syndrome. Inform your doctor immediately if you have stuffy or runny nose followed by weakness or tired feeling, and sudden swelling in your arms, legs and other parts of the body. Other side effects of gemcitabine include fever, chills, flu symptoms, easy bruising or bleeding (nosebleeds, bleeding gums) blisters or ulcers in your mouth, red or swollen gums, trouble eating or swallowing severe headache, blurred vision, buzzing in your ears, confusion, seizure (convulsions) liver problems-nausea, upper stomach pain, itching, tired feeling, loss of appetite, dark urine, clay-coloured stools, jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes) signs of damaged red blood cells-bloody diarrhoea, stomach pain with vomiting, blood in your urine, pale skin signs of a kidney problem-little or no urinating, painful or difficult urination, swelling in your feet or ankles or symptoms of a lung problem-sudden chest pain or discomfort, anxiety, sweating, severe shortness of breath, wheezing, gasping for breath, cough with foamy mucus, severe dizziness.

Drug Interactions

• Gemcitabine+adalimumab- Using adalimumab together with gemcitabine may increase the risk of serious and potentially life-threatening infections. Talk to your doctor if you have any questions or concerns.
• Gemcitabine+certolizumab- Using gemcitabine together with certolizumab may increase the risk of serious and potentially life-threatening infections. Talk to your doctor if you have any questions or concerns.
• Gemcitabine+deferiprone- Deferiprone can lower white blood cell count, and combining it with other medications that can also affect bone marrow function such as gemcitabine may increase the risk. You may be more likely to develop serious and potentially life-threatening infections as a result.
• Gemcitabine+etanercept- Using etanercept together with gemcitabine may increase the risk of serious and potentially life-threatening infections. Talk to your doctor if you have any questions or concerns.
• Gemcitabine+fingolimod- Using fingolimod together with gemcitabine may increase the risk of serious infections. Because fingolimod can stay in your blood for a prolonged period after the last dose, interactions with other drugs may occur for some time even after you have stopped taking it. Talk to your doctor if you have any questions or concerns.
• Gemcitabine+golimumab- Using gemcitabine together with golimumab may increase the risk of serious and potentially life-threatening infections. Talk to your doctor if you have any questions or concerns.

Mechanism of action

Gemcitabine belongs to a class of medication called anti-metabolites. It is cytotoxic in nature. They kill rapidly dividing cells (e.g. cancer cells) thus slowing down the spread of cancer in the body.

Pregnancy Category : D