• Home
  • Health A To Z
  • Drugs A To Z
  • Cancer A to Z
  • Write For Us
  •   
HealthInfi




  • Drugs A To Z

What Is Rituximab (Rituxan and MabThera)?

Posted on November 15, 2017
healthinfi.png.303h

Rituximab (Rituxan and MabThera) is a drug used to treat rheumatoid arthritis that has not improved with other types of medications, as well as certain forms of vasculitis. It works by turning off a part of the immune system that is not working properly in autoimmune diseases.

Rituximab, sold under the brand name Rituxan among others, is a medication used to treat certain autoimmune diseases and types of cancer.  It is used for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, rheumatoid arthritis, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, pemphigus vulgaris and myasthenia gravis. It is given by slow injection into a vein.

Rituximab is used in combination with methotrexate to treat rheumatoid arthritis that has not responded to one or more types of treatment, including TNF inhibitors. Rituximab also is used to treat certain types of vasculitis (an inflammatory condition affecting blood vessels), such as granulomatosis with polyangiitis or MPA.

Occasionally rituximab is used to treat other immune problems, including lupus, and inflammatory muscle diseases. Rituximab also is used in the treatment of some blood disorders, including chronic lymphocytic leukemia and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Common side effects, which often occur within two hours of the medication being given, include rash, itchiness, low blood pressure, and shortness of breath. Other severe side effects include reactivation of hepatitis B in those previously infected, progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, and toxic epidermal necrolysis.

It is unclear if use during pregnancy is safe for the baby. Rituximab is a chimeric monoclonal antibody against the protein CD20, which is primarily found on the surface of immune system B cells. When it binds to this protein it triggers cell death.

How to Take It

Rituximab is given as an intravenous infusion (IV or “drip”) into a vein. The infusion usually takes two – four hours, although occasionally it can take longer. A course of rituximab for rheumatoid arthritis usually consists of two 1000mg doses given 15 days apart. To treat vasculitis, a smaller dose is given once a week for four weeks in a row.

The effects of rituximab begin about six weeks after the infusions. Usually by the third month the full effect occurs, and can last up to nine months.

What is the most important information I should know about RITUXAN?

Tell your doctor right away about any side effect you experience. RITUXAN can cause serious side effects that can lead to death, including:

  • Infusion Reactions:may occur during or within 24 hours of your infusion. Your doctor should give you medicines before your treatment. Symptoms can include hives, rash, itching, facial or oral swelling, sudden cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, weakness, dizziness, feeling faint, racing heart, or chest pain
  • Severe Skin and Mouth Reactions:symptoms can include painful sores, ulcers, or blisters on your skin, lips or mouth; peeling skin; rash; or pustules
  • Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) Reactivation:may cause serious liver problems including liver failure and death. If you have had hepatitis B or are a carrier of HBV, receiving RITUXAN could cause the virus to become an active infection again. You should not receive RITUXAN if you have active HBV liver disease. Your doctor will do blood tests to check for HBV infection prior to treatment and will monitor you during and for several months following your treatment
  • Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy (PML):a rare, serious brain infection that can lead to severe disability and death and for which there is no known prevention, treatment, or cure. Symptoms can include difficulty thinking, loss of balance, changes in speech or walking, weakness on one side of your body, or blurred or lost vision

Side Effects

Sometimes, patients’ blood pressure can drop during the treatment. Those who take medication to lower their blood pressure may have to stop it before the infusion.

Some patients feel mild side effects during or up to 24 hours after receiving rituximab. These usually occur with the first infusion, and can include mild throat tightening, flu-like symptoms, rash, itchiness, dizziness, back pain, nausea, upset stomach, sweating, nervousness, muscle stiffness, and numbness. These symptoms can be reduced by receiving a steroid injection before the infusion, along with acetaminophen (Tylenol) and diphenhydramine (Benadryl).

The infusion is sometimes stopped for a short while and then restarted at a slower rate if the symptoms get better. Rarely, patients will have more serious symptoms, such as wheezing, mouth or throat swelling, trouble breathing, or chest pain. Patients who experience these symptoms should tell their health care providers immediately; patients may receive stronger medications to treat those symptoms.

In the months after the treatment, some people may notice more frequent infections, such as colds or sinusitis. Usually, these are not severe. There are a few rare but serious side effects from rituximab. These include severe skin reactions and mouth sores. Patients who experience vision changes, loss of balance, difficulty walking, or confusion should contact their doctors immediately.

Combining treatment with other biologic drugs, which suppress the immune system, including etanercept (Enbrel), adalimumab (Humira), infliximab (Remicade), certolizumab (Cimzia), golimumab (Simponi), abatacept (Orencia), and tocilizumab (Actemra) may increase the risk of serious infections and medication side effects. Blood pressure medications may increase the risk of low blood pressure during the infusion.

What are the additional possible serious side effects of RITUXAN?

Tell your doctor right away about any side effect you experience. RITUXAN can cause serious side effects that can lead to death, including:

  • Tumor Lysis Syndrome (TLS): may cause kidney failure and the need for dialysis treatment, abnormal heart rhythm, and can lead to death. Your doctor may give you medicines before your treatment to help prevent TLS
  • Serious Infections: can happen during and after treatment and can lead to death. These infections may be bacterial, fungal, or viral. Symptoms can include fever; cold or flu symptoms; earache or headache; pain during urination; white patches in the mouth or throat; cuts or scrapes that are red, warm, swollen, or painful
  • Heart Problems: symptoms can include chest pain and irregular heartbeats that may require treatment. Your doctor may need to stop your treatment
  • Kidney Problems: your doctor should do blood tests to check how well your kidneys are working
  • Stomach and Serious Bowel Problems: can include blockage or tears in the bowel that can lead to death. Stomach area pain during treatment can be a symptom
  • Low Blood Cell Counts: your blood cell counts may be monitored during treatment

The most common side effects of RITUXAN are infusion reactions, chills, infections, body aches, tiredness, and low white blood cells.

Other side effects with Rituxan include:

  • aching joints during or within hours of receiving an infusion
  • more frequent upper respiratory tract infection

Tell your doctor if you are pregnant, plan to become pregnant, or are breastfeeding. It is not known if RITUXAN may harm your unborn baby or pass into your breast milk. Women should use birth control while using RITUXAN and for 12 months after treatment.

Tell your doctor about any side effect that bothers you or that does not go away. These are not all of the possible side effects of RITUXAN. For more information, ask your doctor or pharmacist.

Treatment

RITUXAN (rituximab) is indicated for the treatment of:

  • Low-grade or follicular CD20-positive non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma as a single-agent therapy in patients whose disease recurred or did not respond to initial treatment
  • Follicular CD20-positive non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma as an initial treatment with chemotherapy, and in patients whose initial treatment was successful, as a single-agent follow-up therapy
  • Low-grade CD20-positive non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma as a single-agent follow-up therapy for patients who did not progress on initial treatment with CVP chemotherapy
  • CD20-positive diffuse large B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma as an initial treatment in combination with CHOP chemotherapy
  • CD20-positive chronic lymphocytic leukemia in combination with FC chemotherapy as an initial treatment or as a treatment after disease has recurred
  • Rheumatoid arthritis with another prescription medicine called methotrexate, to reduce the signs and symptoms of moderate to severe active RA in adults, after treatment with at least one other medicine called tumor necrosis factor (TNF) antagonist has been used and did not work well enough
  • Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis (GPA) (Wegener’s Granulomatosis) and Microscopic Polyangiitis (MPA) with glucocorticoids

For more information visit us our website: https://www.healthinfi.com

1 250
Review
  • Nice Post
4.5
Sending
User Review
0 (0 votes)
By HealthInfi
1 250
1. rituximab3. rituximabanti cd20anti cd20 antibodyanti cd20 monoclonal antibodyanti cd20 therapyb cell depletioncan rituxan cause cancercancer drug rituxancancer drug rituximabcd20 antibody rituximabcd20 monoclonal antibodychemotherapy for racost of rituximab treatmentfludarafludarabinegenentech rituxangeneric name for rituxangoogle what is rituximabhalf life of rituxanhalf life of rituximabhow does rituxan work for rahow is rituxan administeredhow is rituxan madehow is rituximab madehow long does rituxan stay in your systemhow much does rituxan costhow much does rituximab costhow rituximab worksif rituximab doesn't workinj ristovainjection rituximab 100 mgis rituxan a form of chemotherapyis rituxan chemois rituxan chemotherapyis rituxan considered chemotherapyis rituximab chemois rituximab cytotoxicmabtheramabthera 500mgmabthera 500mg pricemabthera chemotherapymabthera for rheumatoid arthritismabthera injection pricemabthera injection price in indiamabthera logomabthera manufacturermabthera msmabthera patentmabthera prescribing informationmabthera pricemabthera price in usamabthera ramabthera rituxanmabthera rituximabmabthera rochemabthera side effectsmabthera treatmentmesnexo rituximabofatumumabokay google what is rituximabr chop side effectsr rituximabra indicationretuxionristova injectionristova injection for rheumatoid arthritisrituxanrituxan administrationrituxan and alcohol consumptionrituxan and hair lossrituxan and lupusrituxan approvalrituxan approval daterituxan biogenrituxan canadarituxan cancerrituxan cancer treatmentrituxan cd20rituxan chemorituxan chemotherapyrituxan classificationrituxan companyrituxan copay assistance programrituxan copay cardrituxan costrituxan cost in indiarituxan cost per doserituxan cost per treatmentrituxan cost per yearrituxan coughrituxan dosingrituxan dosing for rarituxan fatiguerituxan fdarituxan fda approvalrituxan fda labelrituxan forrituxan for arthritisrituxan for itprituxan for lymphomarituxan for msrituxan for rarituxan for ra side effectsrituxan genericrituxan generic namerituxan hair lossrituxan half liferituxan immunosuppressionrituxan indicationsrituxan indications fda approvedrituxan infusionrituxan infusion costrituxan infusion for lupusrituxan infusion for rheumatoid arthritisrituxan infusion side effectsrituxan injectionrituxan ivrituxan labelrituxan logorituxan long term side effectsrituxan lupusrituxan manufacturerrituxan mechanismrituxan mechanism of actionrituxan medicationrituxan medication guiderituxan moarituxan monoclonal antibodyrituxan multiple sclerosisrituxan multiple sclerosis treatmentrituxan or rituximabrituxan package insertrituxan patentrituxan patent expirationrituxan patent expiration daterituxan patent expiryrituxan pirituxan prescribing informationrituxan pricerituxan product monographrituxan rashrituxan rheumatoid arthritisrituxan rocherituxan salesrituxan side effectsrituxan side effects after infusionrituxan side effects hair lossrituxan side effects lymphomarituxan side effects rheumatoid arthritisrituxan therapyrituxan treanda combination side effectsrituxan treatmentrituxan usesrituxan uspirituxan weight gainrituxan wikirituxan wikipediarituximabrituximab 100 mgrituximab 1000 mgrituximab 500 mgrituximab 500 mg pricerituximab adccrituximab administrationrituximab adverse effectsrituximab allrituximab and hair lossrituximab anti cd20rituximab antibodyrituximab approvalrituximab arthritisrituximab biosimilarrituximab brand namerituximab cancerrituximab cancer treatmentrituximab cd20rituximab chemical structurerituximab chemorituximab chemotherapyrituximab classrituximab companyrituximab costrituximab cost in indiarituximab cost per doserituximab cost ukrituximab doserituximab fdarituximab fda approvalrituximab for msrituximab for rarituximab for rheumatoid arthritis protocolrituximab genentechrituximab genericrituximab hair lossrituximab half liferituximab historyrituximab indiarituximab indicationsrituximab infusionrituximab infusion costrituximab infusion rheumatoid arthritisrituximab infusion side effectsrituximab injectionrituximab injection 500 mg pricerituximab injection costrituximab injection pricerituximab is what class of drugrituximab itprituximab ivrituximab iv infusionrituximab labelrituximab mabtherarituximab manufacturerrituximab mechanismrituximab mechanism of actionrituximab mechanism of action animationrituximab medicationrituximab moarituximab molecular weightrituximab monoclonal antibodyrituximab multiple sclerosisrituximab package insertrituximab patentrituximab patient informationrituximab pirituximab precautionsrituximab prescribing informationrituximab pricerituximab price usarituximab productionrituximab rheumatoid arthritisrituximab rheumatoid arthritis doserituximab rituxanrituximab rituxan side effectsrituximab rocherituximab side effectsrituximab side effects brainrituximab side effects hair lossrituximab side effects long termrituximab side effects rheumatoid arthritisrituximab smpcrituximab spcrituximab tabletsrituximab targetrituximab therapyrituximab trade namerituximab treatmentrituximab ttprituximab usesrituximab vialrituximab what is it used forrituximab wikirituximab wikipediasandozsandoz medicineside effects of bendamustine and rituxanside effects of mabtheraside effects of rituxan chemotherapyside effects of rituximab injectionside effects rituximab infusionwhat are the side effects of rituximabwhat does rituxan dowhat does rituxan treatwhat does rituximab containwhat does rituximab costwhat does rituximab dowhat does rituximab targetwhat does rituximab treatwhat if rituximab doesn't workwhat is a rituximab infusionwhat is another name for rituximabwhat is antibody rituximabwhat is mabtherawhat is mabthera rituximabwhat is rituxanwhat is rituxan fda approved forwhat is rituxan infusionwhat is rituxan infusion used forwhat is rituxan made fromwhat is rituxan used forwhat is rituxan used to treatwhat is rituximabwhat is rituximab (rituxan and mabthera)?what is rituximab indicated forwhat is rituximab infusionwhat is rituximab infusion used forwhat is rituximab injectionwhat is rituximab injection forwhat is rituximab made fromwhat is rituximab made ofwhat is rituximab maintenancewhat is rituximab rituxanwhat is rituximab side effectswhat is rituximab therapywhat is rituximab used forwhat is rituximab used to treatwhat is the action of rituximabwhat is the brand name for rituximabwhat is the brand name of rituximabwhat is the cost of rituximabwhat is the cost of rituximab injection in indiawhat is the difference between infliximab and rituximabwhat is the difference between rituxan and rituximabwhat is the difference between rituximab and ocrelizumabwhat is the drug rituximabwhat is the drug rituximab used forwhat is the generic name for rituximabwhat is the half life of rituximabwhat is the price of rituximabwhat is the purpose of rituximabwhat is the success rate of rituximabwhat is the trade name for rituximabwhat kind of drug is rituximabwhat kind of medication is rituximabwhat type of drug is rituximabwho makes rituxanwho makes rituximab
What Is Neulasta? (Pegfilgrastim)
What Is Revlimid?(Lenalidomide)

You might also like

healthinfi.png.303e
  • Drugs A To Z

What Is Humira®?(adalimumab)

pre1
  • Drugs A To Z

What Is Prevnar 13? Uses, Side Effects, Interactions

No Comments

Leave a Reply Cancel Reply

Solve : *
5 × 17 =





Categories

Available For Android App

Subscribe and follow

Popular Posts

  • eylia3

    Avastin, Eylea and Lucentis – What’s the Difference?

    Drugs A To Z / 19, November
  • healthinfi

    How Bone Density influences your Health?

    Addiction Treatment / 13, April
  • healthinfi.png.370ghgfj

    Best Combination Classes In London: Fusion Workouts To Spruce Up Your Exercise Routine

    Health News / 19, June
  • Healthinfi

    Diabetes

    Diabetes / 01, August




Latest Posts

  • Early signs and symptoms of breast cancer

    Early signs and symptoms of breast cancer

    Breast Cancer / 04, May
  • 4 Things to Check When Hiring an Orthodontist In Las Vegas

    4 Things to Check When Hiring an Orthodontist In Las Vegas

    Dental Care / 04, May
  • The Role of DNA testing/Profiling in Solving Crimes

    Health / 26, April
  • What Are the Most Typical Dental Problems in Surry Hills?

    What Are the Most Typical Dental Problems in Surry Hills?

    Dental Care / 23, April




Popular Posts

  • x1

    What is Xarelto? (Rivaroxaban)

    Drugs A To Z / 21, November
  • healthinfi.png.386a

    9 Sunscreen Booby Traps To Avoid

    Health News / 30, May
  • health18

    Simple Steps Toward Heart Health

    Health / 10, April
  • Woman with a stomach ache

    Living With Crohn’s Disease

    Health News / 22, May

Available For Android App

  • Top Rated
  • Recent
  • Most Voted

    Latest Posts

    • Early signs and symptoms of breast cancer

      Early signs and symptoms of breast cancer

      Breast Cancer / 04, May
    • 4 Things to Check When Hiring an Orthodontist In Las Vegas

      4 Things to Check When Hiring an Orthodontist In Las Vegas

      Dental Care / 04, May
    • The Role of DNA testing/Profiling in Solving Crimes

      Health / 26, April
    • What Are the Most Typical Dental Problems in Surry Hills?

      What Are the Most Typical Dental Problems in Surry Hills?

      Dental Care / 23, April

    About Us

    Healthinfi.Com Provides Valuable Health Information, Tools for managing your health, and support to those who seek information. You can trust that our content is timely and credible.
    HealthInfi

    Important Pages

    • Home
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Our Policy
    Copyright © Healthinfi 2017-22 |
    All Rights Reserved.