This patient-friendly article is about chemotherapy drug, Cemiplimab, or Libtayo which has a common trade name of Libtayo and is used to treat cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC), a type of skin cancer.
It is a monoclonal antibody that binds to PD-1 and inhibits the PD-1 pathway. This allows the T-cells to identify cancer cells as abnormal cells and attack them.
The recommended dosage is 350 mg IV every 3 weeks for 30 minutes. The medication is usually given until the patient’s body no longer responds to the medication.
Common side effects include fatigue, rash, diarrhea, nausea, constipation and musculoskeletal pain.
Precautions: Because of the mechanism of the drug altering the immune system of the body to attack the cancer cells, there’s a possibility that it could attack the healthy tissues, affecting multiple organs and can become fatal.These potential adverse reactions could be:
- Complications in the lungs, liver, colon, hormones and/or kidneys
- Adverse reactions of the skin
- infusion-related reactions
- damaging the embryo (embryo-fetal toxicity) if the medical drug is used during pregnancy.
Go to: 10 ways to improve your chemotherapy success and reduce side-effects
Other articles that you may find interesting are:
- A diet for Chemotherapy
- Immunotherapy overview
- A to Z Guide to Complementary Therapies
Go to: Return to the CANCERactive drug list