Health Care Knowledge

  Ibrutinib comes under the brand name Imbruvica. It is an anticancer medicine that belongs to a class of drugs called protein kinase inhibitors. The ibrutinib medication is available as immediate-release oral capsules and immediate-release oral tablets. Ibrutinib capsules for oral administration are available in the following dosage strengths: 70 mg and 140 mg. Although, ibrutinib tablets for oral administration are available in the following dosage strengths: 140 mg, 280 mg, 420 mg, and 560 mg.   Ibrutinib is used for the treatment of the following blood cancers in adults: Mantle Cell Lymphoma: Ibrutinib is prescribed for the treatment of adult patients with MCL (mantle cell lymphoma) who have received at least 1-prior therapy.   Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia/Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma: Ibrutinib is prescribed for the treatment of adult patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)/small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL).   Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia/Sm...

  Gemcitabine is specifically a nucleoside analog and a chemotherapeutic agent. This agent was originally developed for its antiviral effects, but it is now recommended as an anticancer therapy to treat various cancers. The study of gemcitabine injection suggests that it is a cytidine analog with a couple of fluorine atoms replacing the hydroxyl on the ribose. As a prodrug, this drug is transformed into its active metabolites that act by replacing the building blocks of nucleic acids during DNA elongation, arresting tumor growth, and promoting apoptosis of malignant cells. The structure, metabolism, and working of gemcitabine are identical to cytarabine, but gemcitabine has a wider spectrum of antitumor activity.   Gemcitabine is available as the strength of 200 mg for intravenous administration. This drug is marketed as Gemzar. Gemcitabine is approved by the FDA for the treatment of certain cancers which are listed below. It is also being investigated in other cancer and...

Introduction: In 2001, Zoledronic acid was approved for medical use in the United States. It is also known as zoledronate. Zoledronic acid is a medication introduced for the treatment of several bone diseases. These include high blood calcium due to cancer, bone breakdown due to cancer, osteoporosis and Paget’s disease of bone.  What is Zoledronic acid: Zoledronic acid is a bisphosphonate used in prevention of skeletal fractures in recipients with multiple myeloma and prostate cancer. This agent is also used for the treatment of osteoporosis. It may also be used for treating hypercalcemia of malignancy and can be effective in treating pain from bone metastases. Zoledronic acid 4 mg can be administered at home rather than in hospital. Such use has shown safety and QoL benefits in recipients with breast cancer and bone metastases.  Zoledronic acid injection may be administered as a 5 mg infusion once per year for treating male recipients with osteoporosis and women with post-m...

Introduction: In 2001, Imatinib was approved for medical use in the United States. It is used for the treatment of cancer. Specifically, it is introduced for chronic myelogenous leukemia and acute lymphocytic leukemia that are Ph+, certain gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES), chronic eosinophilic leukemia (CEL), myelodysplastic syndrome and systemic mastocytosis.  What is Imatinib? Imatinib 400 mg is an oral chemotherapy medication . It acts by stopping the Bcr-Abl tyrosine-kinase. This can resist the growth or outcomes in programmed cell death of certain sorts of cancerous cells. Imatinib is introduced in order to be used for the treatment of patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) and a number of other malignancies. In the year of 2006 the FDA extended the approved use to include DFSP (Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans), (Myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative diseases (MDS/MPD), Aggressive systemic...

Introduction: Exemestane is a drug used for the treatment of breast cancer. It falls under the class of antiestrogens known as aromatase inhibitors. Certain breast cancers basically need estrogen to grow. Those cancers have estrogen receptors (ERs), and are named ER+. They may also be named estrogen-responsive, hormonally-responsive, or HR+. Aromatase is an enzyme that synthesizes estrogen. Aromatase inhibitors inhibit the synthesis of estrogen. This reduces the estrogen level, and resists the growth of cancers. What is Exemestane? Exemestane is used for the adjuvant treatment of postmenopausal women with ER +Ve early breast cancer who have alreadt taken 24 to 36 months of tamoxifen and are switched to it for finishing of a total of 5 consecutive years of adjuvant hormonal therapy.  Exemestane 25 mg tablet is also introduced to treat advanced breast cancer in postmenopausal women whose disease has progressed after the tamoxifen therapy. For premenopausal women with HR+ breast can...

According to a randomized trial, "Adding the investigational PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor toripalimab to standard frontline chemotherapy significantly helps in order to delay the disease progression in patients with the recurrent/metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Outcomes from the phase-III JUPITER-2 trial demonstrated that the addition of toripalimab significantly improved the progression-free survival (PFS) in comparison to placebo, with a median 11.7 months in comparison to 8.0 months (HR 0.52, 95 percent CI 0.36 to 0.74, P=0.0003), reported Rui-Hua Xu, MD, Ph.D., of the Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center in Guangzhou in China.  Speaking at a press briefing in advance of the virtual American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting, Xu said, "In an interim analysis of overall survival (OS), toripalimab plus gemcitabine / cisplatin also demonstrated benefit over placebo." "The combination was safe, and no new safety signals were noted," he...

Daclatasvir is approved for the treatment of adult patients with hepatitis C, an infectious disease that specifically affects the liver, caused by HCV (Hepatitis C Virus).  This medication works in order to stop the multiplication of hepatitis C virus. It also stops infecting new cells. This helps in reducing the amount of hepatitis C virus in the body and eliminates the virus from the blood over a period of time.  Daclatasvir is prescribed to be used along with other medications against hepatitis C infection and must never be used by itself.  Dosage and Administration: The medication daclatasvir always should be taken exactly as your healthcare professional has instructed you. The recommended dose is daclatasvir 60 mg once daily. Swallow the tablet whole. Do not crush/chew the tablet as it has a bit of an unpleasant taste. Daclatasvir may be taken either with or without a meal.  Certain other drugs may be responsible for interacting with daclatasvir, affecting th...