Amifostine (Systemic)

Brand Names : Ethyol

Before Using This Medicine

In deciding to use a medicine, the risks of using the medicine must be weighed against the good it will do. This is a decision you and your doctor will make. For amifostine, the following should be considered:

Allergies - Tell your doctor if you have ever had any unusual or allergic reaction to amifostine.

Pregnancy - Amifostine has not been studied in pregnant women. However, in animal studies, large doses caused toxic or harmful effects in the fetus.

Because amifostinemay cause birth defects or other harmful effects in the fetus, it is usually recommended that women being treated for cancer use birth control.

Breast-feeding - It is not known whether amifostine passes into the breast milk. Breast-feeding is not recommended during treatment.

Children - Although this medicine has been given to a limited number of children, there is no specific information comparing use of amifostine in children with use in other age groups.

Older adults - Many medicines have not been studied specifically in older people. Therefore, it may not be known whether they work exactly the same way they do in younger adults or if they cause different side effects or problems in older people. Although amifostine has been given to a limited number of elderly people, there is no specific information comparing use of amifostine in the elderly with use in other age groups.

Other medicines - Although certain medicines should not be used together at all, in other cases two different medicines may be used together even if an interaction might occur. In these cases, your doctor may want to change the dose, or other precautions may be necessary. When you are receiving amifostine, it is especially important that your health care professional know if you are taking any of the following:

• Amantadine (e.g., Symmetrel) or
• Antidepressants (medicine for depression) or
• Antihypertensives (medicine for high blood pressure) or
• Antipsychotics (medicine for mental illness) or
• Beta-adrenergic blocking agents used in the eye, such as betaxolol (e.g., Betoptic), carteolol (e.g., Ocupress), levobunolol (e.g., Betagan), metipranolol (e.g., OptiPranolol), and timolol (e.g., Timoptic), or
• Bromocriptine (e.g., Parlodel) or
• Deferoxamine (e.g., Desferal) or
• Diuretics (water pills) or
• Levodopa (e.g., Dopar) or
• Medicine for heart disease or
• Nabilone (e.g., Cesamet) (with high doses) or
• Narcotic pain medicine or
• Nimodipine (e.g., Nimotop) or
• Pentamidine (e.g., Pentam) or
• Pimozide (e.g., Orap) or
• Promethazine (e.g., Phenergan) or
• Trimeprazine (e.g., Temaril) - Amifostine sometimes causes low blood pressure while it is being injected. These other medicines may add to this effect and increase the chance of a severe lowering of your blood pressure during treatment. You may have to stop taking the other medicine for a while before amifostine is given, but do not stop taking it on your own . Instead, the doctor who is treating your cancer should plan the best way to avoid this problem together with the doctor who ordered the other medicine for you.

Other medical problems - The presence of other medical problems may affect the use of amifostine. Make sure you tell your doctor if you have any other medical problems, especially:

• Dehydration or
• Heart or blood vessel disease or
• Low blood pressure or
• Nausea, history of, or
• Vomiting, history of, or
• Stroke (history of) or
• Transient ischemic attacks (sometimes called TIAs or �ministrokes�), history of - Some of amifostine's side effects can cause harm to patients with these conditions

• Kidney disease - The chance of low blood calcium may be increased in people with some forms of kidney disease