Thalidomide

Fact Sheet – Everything You Should Know

In this Thalidomide fact sheet, you’ll get to know about the precautions, usage, possible side effects, and the types of cancer that you can treat with this chemo drug.

Temozolomide Fact Sheet

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Here’s the Thalidomide fact sheet to get detailed information about Thalidomide

It Is Used To Treat These Cancers
(Cancer types that you can treat with this chemo drug)

  • Multiple myeloma
  • Kidney
  • Brain

How To Take it
(What are the forms of application)

  • Oral

Precautions
(Things that you should avoid)

  • Avoid pregnancy
  • Don’t receive any vaccination; a successful vaccination needs a working immune system that may be impaired while taking Thalidomide. Problematic are also live vaccines that use a weakened (attenuated) form of the virus. There is always a concern that patients with a weakened immune system could get sick after getting a live vaccine.
  • Do not take aspirin

Mechanism of Action of Thalidomide
(How does the drug affect cancer cells)

Every tumor needs blood vessels for its further growth. Thalidomide stops the development of new blood vessels and thus reduces tumor size.

Drug Interactions
(Medicine that can affect the chemo drug negatively)

  • Aspirin (blood thinner, pain killer)
  • Warfarin (blood thinner)
  • Cymbalta (antidepressant)
  • Dexamethasone (steroid)
  • Crestor (cholesterol medicine)
  • Furosemide (diuretic)
  • Lexapro (antidepressant)
  • Simvastatin (cholesterol medicine)

Reproductive Concerns
(Things that are related to your sexual health)

  • Prevent becoming pregnant; Thalidomide treatment can result in severe birth defects.
  • Stop breastfeeding

Possible Side Effects
(Unpleasant effects of the treatment)

  • Skin rash
  • Fatigue
  • Mood changes
  • Constipation
  • Sleepiness
  • Dizziness
  • Swelling of the feet
  • Low white blood cells; represent your immune system. Low cell numbers can cause severe infections.
  • Low red blood cells; can cause fatigue and shortness of breath. A blood transfusion might help quickly.
  • Low platelets; are responsible for blood clotting. Low platelets can cause bleedings in the intestine and the bladder.

When To Call the doctor
(Emergency that needs professional support)

  • Vomiting (> 4 times in 24h)
  • Diarrhea (> 4 episodes in 24h); can cause dehydration
  • Black stool; might be a sign for intestinal bleeding due to a low number of platelets
  • Blood in the urine
  • Extreme fatigue