FDA approves first treatment for certain patients with Erdheim-Chester Disease, a rare blood cancer — Drug Information Update.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today expanded the approval of Zelboraf (vemurafenib) to include the treatment of certain adult patients with Erdheim-Chester Disease (ECD), a rare cancer of the blood. Zelboraf is indicated to treat patients whose cancer cells have a specific genetic mutation known as BRAF V600. This is the first FDA-approved treatment for ECD.
Common side effects of Zelboraf in patients with ECD include joint pain (arthralgia); small, raised bumps (maculo-papular rash); hair loss (alopecia); fatigue; change in the heart’s electrical activity (prolonged QT interval) and skin growths (papilloma).
Severe side effects of Zelboraf include the development of new cancers (skin cancer, squamous cell carcinoma or other cancers), growth of tumors in patients with BRAF wild-type melanoma, hypersensitivity reactions (anaphylaxis and DRESS syndrome), severe skin reactions (Stevens-Johnson Syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis), heart abnormalities (QT prolongation), liver damage (hepatotoxicity), photosensitivity, severe reactions in the eye (uveitis), immune reactions after receiving radiation treatment (radiation sensitization and radiation recall), kidney failure and thickening of tissue in the hands and feet (Dupuytren’s contracture and plantar fascial fibromatosis).
Zelboraf can cause harm to a developing fetus; women should be advised of the potential risk to the fetus and to use effective contraception.
The FDA granted the approval of Zelboraf to Hoffman-LaRoche, Inc.
(Source: Food and Drug Administration)
