Vinorelbine Tartrate (patient information)

IMPORTANT WARNING:

Vinorelbine can cause a decrease in the number of blood cells in your bone marrow. Keep all appointments with your doctor and the laboratory. Your doctor will order lab tests before, during, and after your treatment to see if your blood cells are affected by this drug.

Vinorelbine should be administered only into a vein. However, it may leak into surrounding tissue causing severe irritation or damage. Your doctor or nurse will monitor your administration site for this reaction.

About your treatment

Your doctor has ordered the drug vinorelbine to help treat your illness. The drug is given by injection into a vein.

This medication is used to treat:

• non-small cell lung cancer

This medication is sometimes prescribed for other uses; ask your doctor or pharmacist for more information.

Vinorelbine is in a class of drugs known as vinca alkaloids; it slows or stops the growth of cancer cells in your body. The length of treatment depends on the types of drugs you are taking, how well your body responds to them, and the type of cancer you have.

Other uses for this medicine

Vinorelbine also is used to treat other cancers such as breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and Hodgkin's disease. Talk to your doctor about the possible risks of using this drug for your condition.

Precautions

Before taking vinorelbine

• tell your doctor and pharmacist if you are allergic to vinorelbine or any other drugs.
• tell your doctor and pharmacist what prescription and nonprescription medications you are taking, especially aspirin, cisplatin (Platinol), mitomycin (Mutamycin), other cancer chemotherapeutic agents, and vitamins.
• tell your doctor if you have or have ever had liver disease.
• you should know that vinorelbine may interfere with the normal menstrual cycle (period) in women and may stop sperm production in men. However, you should not assume that you cannot get pregnant or that you cannot get someone else pregnant. *Women who are pregnant or breast-feeding should tell their doctors before they begin taking this drug. You should not plan to have children while receiving chemotherapy or for a while after treatments. (Talk to your doctor for further details.) Use a reliable method of birth control to prevent pregnancy. Vinorelbine may harm the fetus.
• do not have any vaccinations (e.g., measles or flu shots) without talking to your doctor.

Side effects

Mild side effects

Side effects from vinorelbine are common and include:

• nausea
• vomiting
• thinned or brittle hair
• constipation
• diarrhea

Severe side effects

Tell your doctor if either of these symptoms is severe or lasts for several hours:

• fatigue
• sore throat or mouth pain

If you experience any of the following symptoms, call your doctor immediately:

• unusual bleeding or bruising
• redness, pain, or swelling at the site where the injection was given
• fever
• chills
• shortness of breath
• cough
• abnormal burning and tingling
• change in normal bowel habits for more than 2 days
• severe constipation

If you experience a serious side effect, you or your doctor may send a report to the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program online [at http://www.fda.gov/MedWatch/report.htm] or by phone [1-800-332-1088].

In case of emergency/overdose

In case of overdose, call your local poison control center at 1-800-222-1222. If the victim has collapsed or is not breathing, call local emergency services at 911.

Brand names

• Navelbine®