Tretinoin

Tretinoin may cause severe side effects. Tretinoin should be given only under the supervision of a doctor who has experience in treating people who have leukemia (cancer of the white blood cells) and in a hospital where patients can be monitored for severe side effects and treated if these side effects occur.

Tretinoin may cause a serious or life-threatening group of symptoms called retinoic acid-APL(RA-APL) syndrome. Your doctor will monitor you carefully to see whether you are developing this syndrome. If you experience any of the following symptoms, call your doctor immediately: fever; weight gain; swelling of the arms, hands, feet, ankles, or lower legs; shortness of breath; labored breathing; wheezing; chest pain; or cough. At the first sign that you are developing RA-APL syndrome, your doctor will prescribe one or more medications to treat the syndrome.

Tretinoin may cause a rapid increase in the number of white blood cells in the body. This is associated with a higher risk of life-threatening side effects. If you have a very high number of white blood cells before you begin tretinoin treatment, or if you have an increase in the number of white blood cells during your treatment with tretinoin, expecially if you experience any of the symptoms of RA-APL syndrome, your doctor may prescribe one or more medications to treat or prevent the increase in white blood cells.

Keep all appointments with your doctor and the laboratory. Your doctor will order certain tests to check your body’s response to tretinoin.

Talk to your doctor about the risk(s) of taking tretinoin.

For female patients:

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Tretinoin must not be taken by patients who are pregnant or who may become pregnant. There is a high risk that tretinoin will cause the baby to be born with birth defects (physical problems that are present at birth).

If you can become pregnant, you will need to avoid pregnancy during your treatment with tretinoin. You must use two acceptable forms of birth control during your treatment and for 1 month after your treatment, even if you have infertility (difficulty becoming pregnant) or have experienced menopause (‘change of life’; end of monthly menstrual periods). You must use these two forms of birth control at all times unless you can promise that you will not have any sexual contact with a male for 1 month after your treatment. Your doctor will tell you which forms of birth control are acceptable, and will give you full information about birth control.

If you plan to use oral contraceptives (birth control pills) while taking tretinoin, tell your doctor the name of the pill you will use. Microdosed progestin (‘minipill’) oral contraceptives (Ovrette, Micronor, Nor-D) may not be an effective form of birth control for people who are taking tretinoin.

You must have a negative pregnancy test within 1 week before you begin to take tretinoin. You will also need to be tested for pregnancy in a laboratory each month during your treatment. Tell your doctor immediately if you think you might be pregnant at any time during your treatment with tretinoin.

🔔 Why is this medication prescribed?

Tretinoin is used to treat acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL; a type of cancer in which there are too many immature blood cells in the blood and bone marrow) in people who have not been helped by other types of chemotherapy or whose condition has improved but then worsened following treatment with other types of chemotherapy. Tretinoin is used to produce remission (a decrease or disappearance of signs and symptoms of cancer) of APL, but other medications must be used after treatment with tretinoin to prevent the cancer from returning. Tretinoin is in a class of medications called retinoids. It works by slowing or stopping the growth of cancer cells by causing immature blood cells to develop into normal blood cells.

🔔 How should this medicine be used?

Tretinoin comes as a capsule to take by mouth. It is usually taken twice a day for up to 90 days. Take tretinoin at around the same times every day. Follow the directions on your prescription label carefully, and ask your doctor or pharmacist to explain any part you do not understand. Take tretinoin exactly as directed. Do not take more or less of it or take it more often than prescribed by your doctor.

Continue to take tretinoin even if you feel well. Do not stop taking tretinoin without talking to your doctor.

🔔 Other uses for this medicine

This medication may be prescribed for other uses; ask your doctor or pharmacist for more information.