Kanjinti

Kanjinti is a biosimilar medicine that is used to treat certain types of cancer. It is manufactured by Amgen, a multinational biopharmaceutical company.

Overview

Kanjinti is a biosimilar to Herceptin, a medicine that is used to treat breast cancer and gastric cancer. Biosimilars are biological medicines that are highly similar to another already approved biological medicine. They are designed to have the same benefits and risks as the original medicine.

Uses

Kanjinti is used to treat:

• Early breast cancer, in combination with chemotherapy or alone after chemotherapy.
• Metastatic breast cancer, in combination with other medicines or alone in patients who have received at least two chemotherapy regimens.
• Metastatic gastric cancer, in combination with chemotherapy.

Mechanism of Action

Kanjinti works by attaching to the HER2/neu receptor, which is found in large amounts on the surface of some cancer cells. By attaching to these receptors, Kanjinti can slow the growth of the cancer cells and may also stimulate the immune system to attack the cancer cells.

Side Effects

Like all medicines, Kanjinti can cause side effects, although not everybody gets them. The most common side effects include fever, nausea, vomiting, infusion reactions, diarrhea, infections, increased cough, headache, fatigue, shortness of breath, rash, neutropenia (low levels of neutrophils, a type of white blood cell), anemia (low red blood cell counts), and peripheral neuropathy (nerve damage in the hands and feet).

See Also

• Biosimilar
• Herceptin
• Breast cancer
• Gastric cancer
• Chemotherapy
• HER2/neu receptor