Generic Afinitor (Everolimus)

Everolimus is the generic of the drug called Afinitor. In certain circumstances, doctors may use the brand name when mentioning the generic.

Type of medication:

Everolimus is an anticancer chemotherapy medication. This drug belongs to the group of mTOR kinase inhibitors. (For additional information, check out the section “How Everolimus acts”).

What diseases can this drug treat?

Breast cancer: Therapy (together with exemestane) of locally advanced breast cancer in postmenopausal women after the failure of anastrozole/ letrozole treatment.
Neuroendocrine Tumors (NET): Treatment of specific advanced neuroendocrine cancer of pancreatic, stomach, or pulmonary origin.
Renal Cell Carcinoma: Treatment of locally advanced RCC (if the therapy with sunitinib or sorafenib was unsuccessful).

How to use Everolimus?

Everolimus is taken orally.
It is advisable to take the medication at the same time every day.
Everolimus may be taken with or without meal, but you should stay consistent always in the same way.
Take the drug with a glass of water; avoid chewing or crushing the pill.
Other patients shouldn’t contact with the pills.
There are 4 dosages available: 2.5 mg, 5 mg, 7.5 mg or 10 mg.
Consult your doctor so that he/she can prescribe the right dose.
If you skipped the dose, you can take it up to six hours afterwards; otherwise, you should skip the dose and return to your normal schedule. Avoid doubling the dose.

Despite the achievements of modern oncology, breast cancer is cured by not more than a third of the sick women due to the high incidence of tumors to metastasis. The main method of treatment of patients with inoperable tumors because of metastases is hormone therapy. But sooner or later there is resistance to hormonal drugs, and sometimes the tumor initially is insensitive to them. And then the only way to continue the struggle for life is chemotherapy. Chemotherapy, as a rule, is poorly tolerated, accompanied by excruciating nausea, vomiting, baldness, it causes significant harm to health. Everolimus makes it easier and more comfortable to overcome resistance to hormone therapy. It is available in the form of tablets, so treatment can be carried out without changing the habitual image and rhythm of life, and the absence of characteristic side effects for chemotherapy does not degrade its quality.