How is tisagenlecleucel given?
Tisagenlecleucel is available only at an authorized hospital or clinic, and must be given by specially trained healthcare professionals.
Tisagenlecleucel is given after a procedure called leukapheresis (LOO-kuh-fuh-REE-sis).
During leukapheresis, some of your blood is collected through a small tube (catheter) placed into a vein. The catheter is connected to a machine that separates your white blood cells from other parts of the blood.
The cells are then sent to a laboratory where they are made into tisagenlecleucel. Because it will take time to process your blood cells into tisagenlecleucel, you will not receive the medicine on the same day your blood cells are drawn.
About 2 to 14 days before tisagenlecleucel is given, you will be pre-treated with chemotherapy to help prepare your body for tisagenlecleucel.
Just before you receive tisagenlecleucel, you will be given other medications to help prevent serious side effects or allergic reaction.
Once your body is ready to receive tisagenlecleucel, your care providers will inject the medicine into a vein through an IV.
For at least 4 weeks, plan to stay near the hospital or clinic where you received tisagenlecleucel. Avoid being so far away that it takes you longer than 2 hours to travel back to the hospital.
Serious and sometimes fatal infections may develop after the injection. Call your doctor right away if you have fever, chills, easy bruising, unusual bleeding, or other signs of infection.
This medicine can cause you to have a false positive screening test for HIV (human immunodeficiency virus). Tell any doctor who treats you that you are using tisagenlecleucel.
Using tisagenlecleucel may increase your risk of developing other types of cancer, or causing your leukemia to come back. Your doctor will need to check your progress for the rest of your life.
If you have ever had hepatitis B, tisagenlecleucel can cause this condition to come back or get worse. You will need frequent blood tests to check your liver function during treatment and for several months after you stop using this medicine.