- Take Hycamtin capsules exactly as your doctor prescribes them.
- Your healthcare provider may want you to take both 1 mg and 0.25 mg capsules together to make up your complete dose. You must be able to tell the difference between the capsules. The 1 mg capsule is a pink color and the 0.25 mg capsule is a white to yellowish-white color.
- Take Hycamtin capsules once a day for 5 days in a row. This treatment will normally be repeated every 3 weeks (a treatment cycle). Your healthcare provider will decide how long you will take Hycamtin capsules.
- Swallow Hycamtin capsules whole with water. Do not open, chew, or crush Hycamtin capsules. Hycamtin capsules may be taken with or without food.
- If any of the Hycamtin capsules are broken or leaking, do not touch them with your bare hands. Carefully dispose of the capsules, and then wash your hands well with soap and water.
- If you get any of the contents of Hycamtin capsules on your skin or in your eyes, do the following:
- Wash the area of skin well with soap and water right away,
- Wash your eyes right away with gently flowing water for at least 15 minutes.
- Call your healthcare provider if you get a skin reaction or if you get the medicine in your eyes.
- If you take too much Hycamtin, contact your healthcare provider right away.
- If you forget to take Hycamtin at any time, do not double the dose to make up for a forgotten dose. Wait and take the next scheduled dose. Let your healthcare provider know that you missed a dose.
- If you vomit after taking your Hycamtin, do not take another dose on the same day. Let your healthcare provider know right away that you have vomited.
Hycamtin capsules are available as 0.25 mg and 1 mg strengths.
Active Ingredient: Topotecan
Inactive Ingredients: Hydrogenated vegetable oil, glyceryl monostearate, gelatin, and titanium dioxide. The 1 mg capsules also contain red iron oxide. The capsules are imprinted with edible black ink.
Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take including prescription and non-prescription medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. Especially tell your doctor if you take:
- cyclosporine (Gengraf, Neoral, and Sandimmune)
- ketoconazole (Nizoral)
- ritonavir (Norvir)
- saquinavir (Fortovase, Invirase)
This is not a complete list of Hycamtin drug interactions. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for more information.
Tell your healthcare provider if you are pregnant or may become pregnant. Hycamtin capsules may harm your unborn baby. You should not become pregant while you are taking Hycamtin capsules.
If you take too much Hycamtin, call your local Poison Control Center or seek emergency medical attention right away.
Hycamtin capsules can cause serious side effects:
Decreased blood counts. Taking Hycamtin affects your bone marrow and can cause a severe decrease in your blood cell counts (bone marrow suppression) – neutrophils (a type of white blood cell important in fighting bacterial infections), red blood cells (blood cells that carry oxygen to the tissues), and platelets (important for clotting and control of bleeding).
- You should have blood tests regularly to check your blood counts. A decrease in neutrophils (neutropenia) may affect how your body fights infection.
- Your healthcare provider will tell you if your blood counts are too low before you begin treatment with Hycamtin.
- Your dose of Hycamtin may need to be changed or stopped until your blood counts recover enough after each cycle of treatment.
- Call your healthcare provider right away if you get any of the following signs of infection:
- fever (temperature of 100.5°F or greater)
- chills
- cough
- burning or pain on urination
- Tell your healthcare provider about any abnormal bleeding or bruising.
Diarrhea. Diarrhea may occur from taking Hycamtin capsules, and may be serious enough that you must be treated in the hospital. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have:
- diarrhea with fever
- diarrhea 3 or more times a day
- diarrhea with stomach-area pain or cramps
Do not take Hycamtin capsules if:
- you are allergic to anything in Hycamtin capsules. See the end of this leaflet for a complete list of ingredients in Hycamtin capsules.
- the results of your last blood test show blood counts that are too low. Your healthcare provider will tell you.
Hycamtin may make you feel drowsy or sleepy both during and for several days after treatment. If you feel tired or weak, do not drive and do not use heavy tools or operate machinery.
Hycamtin (generic: topotecan) is a prescription medication used to treat small cell lung cancer, ovarian cancer, and cervical cancer. Hycamtin belongs to a group of drugs called topoisomerase I inhibitors, which kill cancer cells.
This medication comes in capsule form and in an injectable form. The capsules are taken by mouth, once daily for 5 days, every 3 weeks.
Common side effects of Hycamtin include nausea, diarrhea, and hair loss.
Hycamtin can cause serious side effects including:
- See “Drug Precautions”.
- Lung problems that can cause death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have new or worse symptoms of coughing, fever, shortness of breath, or problems breathing. Your healthcare provider may tell you to stop taking Hycamtin capsules.
The following side effects have been reported in patients taking Hycamtin capsules:
- stomach problems such as nausea (feeling sick) and vomiting
- tiredness
- hair loss
- weakness
Tell your healthcare provider if you have any side effect that bothers you or does not go away. Your healthcare provider may change your dose of Hycamtin to a dose that is better for you or may stop your treatment with Hycamtin for a while. This can help reduce the side effects and may keep them from getting worse. Let your healthcare provider know if this helps or does not help your side effects.
These are not all of the possible side effects of Hycamtin capsules. For more information, ask your doctor or pharmacist.
Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.
- Store Hycamtin capsules in a refrigerator between 36° to 46°F (2° and 8°C).
- Keep the bottle of Hycamtin capsules in the carton that it comes in to protect it from light.
- Dispose of Hycamtin capsules that are out of date or no longer needed.
- Keep Hycamtin capsules and all other medicines out of the reach of children.
Before you take Hycamtin capsules, tell your healthcare provider if you:
- are pregnant or may become pregnant. Hycamtin capsules may harm your unborn baby. You should not become pregant while you are taking Hycamtin capsules.
- are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. It is not known if Hycamtin passes into your breast milk or if it can harm your baby. You and your healthcare provider should decide if you will take Hycamtin or breast feed. You should not do both.
- Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take, including prescription and non-prescription medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. Hycamtin capsules and other medicines may affect each other causing side effects. Especially tell your healthcare provider if you are taking cyclosporine (Sandimmune, Gengraf, Neoral), ketoconazole (Nizoral, Extina), ritonavir (Norvir, Kaletra), saquinavir (Invirase).
- Know your medicines. Keep a list of your medicines and show it to your healthcare provider and pharmacist when you get a new medicine.
Tell your healthcare provider if you are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. It is not known if Hycamtin passes into your breast milk or if it can harm your baby. You and your healthcare provider should decide if you will take Hycamtin or breast feed. You should not do both.
Medicines can interact with certain foods. In some cases, this may be harmful and your doctor may advise you to avoid certain foods. In the case of Hycamtin there are no specific foods that you must exclude from your diet when receiving Hycamtin.
Hycamtin is a prescription medication used to treat small cell lung cancer, ovarian cancer, and cervical cancer.
This medication may be prescribed for other uses. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for more information.
WARNING: Bone Marrow Suppression
HYCAMTIN should be administered only to patients with baseline neutrophil counts of ≥1,500 cells/mm3 and a platelet count ≥100,000 cells/mm3. In order to assess the occurrence of bone marrow suppression, blood cell counts should be monitored.