alimta chemotherapy how often are doses given
Chemotherapy is the use of drugs given by mouth or injection to destroy cancer cells that may have spread beyond the tumor. Until recently, there has been some doubt about the effectiveness of chemotherapy for lung cancer. Side effects of chemotherapy treatments are common, and they are more severe with higher doses. Side effects increase over the course of treatment. Some studies suggest that side effects can be reduced by giving the drugs for shorter durations, without losing the cancer-killing effects. Maintenance therapy often uses traditional chemotherapy drugs. But doctors give lower doses than when you first have treatment. You might also get vaccines, hormone therapy, or other drugs. For example, doctors give hormones as maintenance therapy for some types of breast cancer. Maintenance therapy may include a drug from the first treatment plan. Or, it may include another drug or drug combination. Call your doctor at once if you have a serious side effect such as: 1  fever, chills, body aches, flu symptoms, sore throat; 2  white patches or sores inside your mouth or on your lips;  pale skin, feeling light-headed or short of breath, rapid heart rate, trouble concentrating; The recommended dose of Alimta is 500 mg/m2 administered as an intravenous infusion over 10 minutes on Day 1 of each 21-day cycle. The recommended dose of cisplatin is 75 mg/m2 infused over 2 hours beginning approximately 30 minutes after the end of Alimta administration. See cisplatin package insert for more information. It is a white to almost-white solid with a molecular formula of C20H19N5Na2O6•7H20 and a molecular weight of 597.49. The structural formula is as follows: ALIMTA is supplied as a sterile lyophilized powder for intravenous infusion available in single-dose vials. 1 To avoid or slow the cancer’s return if the cancer is in complete remission after initial treatment. Being in “complete remission” means doctors cannot find cancer and you have no symptoms. Maintenance therapy can help keep the cancer from coming back.  To slow the growth of advanced cancer after initial treatment. It is a white to almost-white solid with a molecular formula of C20H19N5Na2O6•7H20 and a molecular weight of 597.49. ALIMTA is supplied as a sterile lyophilized powder for intravenous infusion available in single-dose vials. The product is a white to either light yellow or green-yellow lyophilized solid. Each 100-mg or 500-mg vial of ALIMTA contains pemetrexed disodium equivalent to 100 mg pemetrexed and 106 mg mannitol or 500 mg pemetrexed and 500 mg mannitol, respectively. Treatment for lung cancer depends on the type of cancer and the stage of the disease. Chemotherapy is a form of treatment for lung cancer that may cure, shrink, or keep the cancer from spreading. ​Instruct patients to initiate folic acid 400 mcg to 1000 mcg orally once daily beginning 7 days before the first dose of Alimta. Continue folic acid during the full course of therapy and for 21 days after the last dose of Alimta [see Warnings and Precautions (5.1)]. ​Administer vitamin B12 1 mg intramuscularly 1 week prior to the first dose of Alimta and every 3 cycles thereafter. Subsequent vitamin B12 injections may be given the same day as treatment with Alimta [see Warnings and Precautions (5.1)].
500 mg/m2