Shortage of Drug Caelyx?

[Revy]

I have just seen my Oncologist And having been told at a previous appt that I was to have Caelyx after 8 courses of Carboplatin since 2001. Today he informed me that Caelyx is in short supply worldwide and that I would have to have Topotecan instead. I had greared myself to having Caelyx being I week out of 4 but the thought of having chemo 3 weeks out of 4 is almost overwhelming. Has anyone else heard of this shortage of Caelyx?

[BusyLizzie]

I had not until you mentioned it, but there are reports on the web about it if you look for it. This looks the most useful link....

ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/do...

Love Lizzie

X

[RuthPOvacome]

Hi I am one of the support line nurses at Ovacome. Yes we are aware that there is a shortage of Caelyx ( for patients who have not already started it) and we are so sorry to hear that you have been affected in this way.

There are other regimes of giving Topotecan and certainly there is one that involves having it daily for 5 days and then having a two week gap. It is worth asking at your hospital if there are any other alternative chemotherapies or trials that might be suitable for you. We do appreciate that it must be very upsetting when you find the regime that you are expecting to receive has to be changed and especially when it means more visits to the hospital.If you would like to discuss this further do please feel free to give us ring on 02072996650

Best Wishes

Ruth

[BusyLizzie in reply to RuthPOvacome]

Hi Ruth,

Do you know when the supply of Caelyx is likely to be available again?

Lizzie

[RuthPOvacome]

I think it is unlikely that the supply will not be up to speed until the end of the year. As soon as we know anymore we can let you know

Ruth

[Suzy]

I had heard that it is currently unavailable in US and OZ for some reason I had assumed that it was not a problem in UK - clearly I am mistaken

[Suzy in reply to Suzy]

ps - just found this post on another web - site

I don't take Doxil, but at chemo this morning, the chemo nurse told me that the reason for the Doxil shortage is there was a fire at one of the two manufacturing plants and a new facility has to be built. I tried to google info and came up with nothing. Has anyone else heard this?

Hope this can be rebuilt quickly

[Suzy]

ps - Doxil is the US name for caelyx

[Meryl]

Hi everybody

I'm coming up for my 6th Caelyx in 3 weeks and I did check it out because on one of the American sites for OC support (much like this one) the ladies have been complaining for months about a shortage of Caelyx and some have even had their treatments stopped. I was assured that as an existing patient I would be OK but it's a bit of a worry as it's worked wonderfully well for me with virtually no side effects. I hope things get back to normal quickly as worldwide it seems to be causing a lot of problems as if we didn't have enough to worry about.

Meryl XXXX

[BusyLizzie in reply to Meryl]

Hi Meryl,

I have also read that ladies on existing treatment get priority so I doubt you have anything to worry about.

Love Lizzie

X

[Revy]

Thanks to all who answered and made the situation more clear. Thanks Ruth re other Topotecan regimes but I think I will just go for the Day 1,8 & 15 monthly cycle as 5 days every 3weeks seems almost as bad!. Hopefully the supply will be available asap.