Warnings & Recalls for Yervoy
Black box warning
The black box warning for Yervoy includes the severe side effects of inflammation of the intestine that can cause perforations (tears) in the walls, inflammation of the liver leading to damage, and inflammation of the skin that can cause necrolysis, a life threatening skin-peeling disorder.Yervoy can also cause inflammation of the nerves that can cause paralysis in the body, inflammation of hormonal glands that can severly effect a patient's personality, and inflammation of the eyes that can cause severe discomfort.
Other warnings
Before the patient takes Yervoy, they tell their doctor if they have ever had any immune system problems, bowel diseases, had an organ transplant, liver damage, lupus or sarcoidosis, as symptoms of these diseases could worsen with Yervoy.
Patients should not take Yervoy if they are allergic to it or any of its ingredients (ipilimumab, diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid, mannitol, polysorbate 80, sodium chloride, tris hydrochloride, and water.
Contraindications:
Contraindications include any immune suppressants like dexamethasone, methylprednisolone, prednisone, and prednisolone.
Family Planning:
Yervoy should not be used during pregnancy. The FDA has classified it as a pregnancy category C, which means that it may cause harm to the fetus.
It is not known whether Yervoy passes into breast milk therefore nursing mothers should not continue to breast feed their infants. Nursing mothers should consult with their doctor to weigh the benefits and the risks of taking this drug while breast feeding.
Yervoy Treatment and Use
Yervoy | Ipilimumab is a monoclonal antibody injection used to treat the most dangerous type of skin cancer, known as melanoma, that has become metastatic (spread to other areas of the body) and cannot be removed with surgery.
How does Yervoy work?
Yervoy does not act directly on the cancer, but instead on a patient’s immune system. Cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTLs) are naturally-produced antigens found on white blood cells, known as T cells, which protect the body from infections. These CTL antigens can prevent T cells from working, and inhibit the body’s immune response to diseases, such as cancer. Yervoy prevents the action of CTLs, which then allows the T cells to multiply work effectively to destroy cancer cells. Yervoy also works to stunt the growth of new cancer cells.
Dosage information for Yervoy
Yervoy’s recommended dosage is 3 mg/kg administered by a medical professional for 90 minutes every 3 weeks for a total of 4 times.
