Ipilimumab
Generic name: ipilimumab
Brand name: Yervoy
Dosage form: injection
Drug class:Anti-CTLA-4 monoclonal antibodies
What is ipilimumab?
Ipilimumab is a medicine that is used to treat specific cancers. It will be prescribed to you by your healthcare professional if you have a type of cancer that has been shown to respond well to this medicine.
Ipilimumab was first approved by the FDA in 2011 for late-stage melanoma (a type of skin cancer) and since then has been approved for other cancers.
Ipilimumab will be given to you as an infusion in your arm, every 3 to 12 weeks depending on your treatment plan. Depending on your type of cancer, ipilimumab may be used alone or in combination with other cancer medicines.
What is ipilimumab used for?
Ipilimumab is used to treat certain types of cancer like
- melanoma (skin cancer)
- kidney cancer (renal cell carcinoma)
- colon or rectal cancer (colorectal cancer)
- liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma)
- non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
- cancer of the lining of the lungs and chest wall (pleural mesothelioma)
Ipilimumab is only used in certain circumstances, depending on what type of cancer you have, whether it has spread to other parts of your body, what other treatments you have tried and for some cancers it will depend on genetic markers.
How does it work?
Ipilimumab is a monoclonal antibody (a type of protein) that is a type of targeted cancer therapy. It binds to CTLA-4 antigen which results in its anti-tumor immune response. This allows the body to attack cancerous cells while less likely to harm healthy tissues.
As it is a targeted cancer therapy it may be less toxic to healthy cells and so side effects may be lower.
Ipilimumab is a human cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4)-blocking antibody.
Dosing information
Ipilimumab is given as an infusion into a vein by your doctor or nurse. The medicine is given slowly and will take between 30 to 90 minutes. Different cancers have different dosing schedules so depending on your cancer, it could be one dose of ipilimumab every 3 weeks or up to every 12 weeks. Your healthcare provider will work out the ideal dose, dosing schedule and how long you will be treated with this medicine.
You may be given ipilimumab as a single cancer treatment or it may be used in combination with other treatments. When having cancer treatment you are often given other medications to treat or prevent any side effects.
To check that your medicine is not causing harmful side effects, you may be given frequent medical tests. Your cancer treatments may be delayed based on the results.
