Imbruvica (Ibrutinib) for Leukemia

Overview
Imbruvica is a prescription drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and several types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Imbruvica is also approved to treat chronic graft-versus-host disease, which can occur as a side effect of allogeneic stem cell transplant. In most cases, Imbruvica is used when at least one previous therapy has been tried. Imbruvica is also referred to by its drug name, ibrutinib.

Imbruvica is used as targeted therapy for leukemia. Imbruvica is a member of a class of drugs called kinase inhibitors. Imbruvica is believed to work by inhibiting replication of and triggering cell death in leukemia cells.

How do I take it?
Prescribing information states that Imbruvica is taken orally once daily.

Imbruvica comes in tablet and capsule forms.

Side effects
The FDA-approved label for Imbruvica lists common side effects including fever, fatigue, rash, muscle and bone pain, bruising, diarrhea, abnormal bleeding, and low blood cell counts.

Rare but serious side effects listed for Imbruvica include hypertension (high blood pressure), increased risk for infections, dangerous bleeding, fetal harm, and cardiac arrhythmias. Serious side effects also can include the development of other cancers — such as skin cancer and carcinomas — and tumor lysis syndrome, a potentially fatal metabolic condition caused when many cancer cells die at the same time.

For more details about this treatment, visit:

Imbruvica — Janssen
www.imbruvica.com

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