Gazyva (Obinutuzumab) for Leukemia

Overview
Gazyva is a prescription drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and certain types of follicular lymphoma. Gazyva is often prescribed in combination with other drugs, such as chlorambucil. Gazyva is also known by its drug name, obinutuzumab.

Gazyva is used in immunotherapy for cancer. Gazyva is a biologic drug, a genetically engineered protein (antibody), that targets the CD20 protein on leukemia cells. Gazyva is believed to work by stimulating the immune system to attack leukemia cells.

How do I take it?
Gazyva is administered as an intravenous infusion on specific days of a treatment cycle.

Gazyva comes in the form of a single-dose vial.

Side effects
The FDA-approved label for Gazyva lists common side effects including headache, fever, cough, upper respiratory infection, pneumonia, infusion site reactions, itching, diarrhea, constipation, loss of appetite, hair loss, joint pain, and low blood cell counts.

Rare but serious side effects listed for Gazyva can include hypersensitivity reactions, severe infections, fetal harm in pregnant women, tumor lysis syndrome (a potentially fatal metabolic condition caused when many cancer cells die at the same time), and reactivation of hepatitis B virus that can lead to liver failure and death. Taking Gazyva increases the risk of developing a fatal brain infection called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy.

For more details about this treatment, visit:

Gazyva — Genentech
www.gazyva.com

CLL: Chemotherapy and Drug Therapy — Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
www.lls.org/leukemia/chronic-lymphocytic-leukem...