Alimta

Prezentare produs

About Alimta

Alimta is a powder that is made up into a solution for infusion (drip into a vein). It contains the active substance pemetrexed.

What it is used for

Alimta is used to treat two types of lung cancer: malignant pleural mesothelioma (a cancer of the lining of the lungs that is usually caused by exposure to asbestos), where it is used together with cisplatin in patients who have not received chemotherapy before and whose cancer cannot be removed by surgery; advanced ‘non-small-cell’ lung cancer of the kind known as ‘non-squamous’, where it is used either in combination with cisplatin in previously untreated patients or on its own in patients who have previously received anticancer treatment. It can also be used as a maintenance treatment in patients who have received a platinum-based chemotherapy. The medicine can only be obtained with a prescription.

How it is used

Alimta should only be given under the supervision of a doctor who is qualified in the use of chemotherapy. The recommended dose of Alimta is 500 mg per square metre of body surface area (calculated using the patient’s height and weight). It is given once every three weeks as an infusion lasting 10 minutes. To reduce side effects, patients should take a corticosteroid (a type of medicine that reduces inflammation) and folic acid (a type of vitamin), and receive injections of vitamin B12 during treatment with Alimta. When Alimta is given with cisplatin, an ‘anti-emetic’ medicine (to prevent vomiting) and fluids (to prevent dehydration) should also be given before or after the cisplatin dose. Treatment should be delayed or stopped, or the dose reduced, in patients whose blood counts are abnormal or who have certain other side effects.

How it works

The active substance in Alimta, pemetrexed, is a cytotoxic medicine (a medicine that kills cells that are dividing, such as cancer cells), which belongs to the group ‘antimetabolites’. In the body, pemetrexed is converted into an active form that blocks the activity of the enzymes that are involved in producing ‘nucleotides’ (the building blocks of DNA and RNA, the genetic material of cells). As a result, the active form of pemetrexed slows down the formation of DNA and RNA and prevents the cells from dividing and multiplying. The conversion of pemetrexed into its active form occurs more readily in cancer cells than in normal cells, leading to higher levels of the active form of the medicine and a longer duration of action in cancer cells. This results in the division of cancer cells being reduced, while normal cells are only slightly affected.

Active substance: pemetrexed

Source: EMA EPAR