Your child needs to take the medicine called idarubicin. This information sheet explains what idarubicin does, how to give it, and what side effects or problems your child may have when they take this medicine.
What is idarubicin?
Idarubicin is a medicine that is used to kill cancer cells. It is used to treat leukemia and other types of cancer. You may hear idarubicin called IDA, or by its brand name, Idamycin. Idarubicin comes in injection form.
Before giving idarubicin to your child?
Tell the doctor if your child has ever reacted badly to idarubicin or any other medication (including doxorubicin, daunorubicin, epirubicin, or mitoxantrone), food, preservative, or colouring agent.
Talk with the doctor or pharmacist if your child has any of the following conditions. Precautions may need to be taken with this medicine if your child has:
- infection or recent exposure to infection (for example chickenpox)
- any heart problems
- kidney or liver problems
- low blood counts
- had prior chemotherapy including doxorubicin, daunorubicin, epirubicin, mitoxantrone, or cyclophosphamide
- had prior radiation therapy
How will your child get idarubicin?
Idarubicin is a clear, red liquid that a nurse will give by needle into your child's vein (intravenously or IV). Usually your child will get this medicine in the hospital clinic or on a nursing unit.
What are the possible side effects of idarubicin?
Your child may have some of these side effects while they take idarubicin. Check with your child's doctor if your child continues to have any of these side effects, and they do not go away, or they bother your child:
- nausea (upset stomach) and vomiting (throwing up)
- watery bowel movements (diarrhea)
- headaches
- red or pink coloured urine or perspiration (sweat) (common for 1 or 2 days after a dose; may stain light-coloured clothing)
- darkening of the skin and/or fingernails
- flushing (redness) of the face while the drug is being given
Call your child's doctor during office hours if your child has any of these side effects:
- sores on the mouth, lips, tongue or throat
- joint pain
- skin rash or hives
Most of the following side effects are not common, but they may be a sign of a serious problem. Call your child's doctor right away or take your child to Emergency if your child has any of these side effects:
- fever or chills
- cough or sore throat
- painful or difficult urination
- lower back or side pain
- stomach pain
- black, tarry stools
- blood in urine or stools
- vomiting material that looks like coffee grounds
- unusual bleeding or bruising
- pinpoint red spots on skin
- redness, swelling, or pain where the needle was put in
- swelling in the hands, feet, or lower legs
- fast and/or uneven heartbeat
- shortness of breath or trouble breathing
What safety measures should you take when your child is using idarubicin?
If idarubicin leaks out of the vein through which it is being given, it can cause severe damage. Tell the nurse right away if you notice redness, pain, or swelling at the place of injection.
Your child will receive medicine to prevent upset stomach and throwing up caused by idarubicin.
Your child may lose their hair. It will grow back once your child is no longer receiving idarubicin. The colour and texture may change. Use a gentle shampoo and a soft brush.
Idarubicin may cause sores in the mouth. Rinse your child's mouth with a mouthwash made from baking soda to help keep it clean. Your nurse or pharmacist can review this with you. Avoid store bought mouthwash as it may sting and cause dry mouth.
Idarubicin may cause heart damage. Your child will have heart function tests done as needed while receiving idarubicin. Contact your child's doctor immediately if your child has a fast or irregular heartbeat, shortness of breath, trouble breathing, or swelling of the feet and/or lower legs.
Idarubicin can lower the number of white blood cells in the blood temporarily, which increases your child's chances of getting an infection. Your child can take the following precautions to prevent infections, especially when the blood count is low:
- Avoid people with infections, such as a cold or the flu.
- Avoid places that are crowded with large groups of people.
- Be careful when brushing or flossing your child's teeth. Your doctor, nurse or dentist may suggest different ways to clean your child's mouth and teeth.
- You or your child should have clean hands before touching your child's eyes or inside their nose.
- Your child's nurse will review with you what to do in case of fever.
Your child should not receive any immunizations (vaccines) without your child's doctor's approval. Your child or anyone else in your household should not get oral polio vaccine while your child is being treated for cancer. Tell your child's doctor if anyone in your household has recently received oral polio vaccine. Your child should avoid contact with anyone who has recently received this vaccine. Other live vaccines that your child should not get include measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) and chicken pox vaccine.
Idarubicin can lower the number of platelets in the blood, which increases your child's risk of bleeding. You can take the following precautions:
- Be careful not to cut your child when using fingernail scissors or toenail clippers.
- Be careful when shaving or waxing.
- Your child should avoid contact sports where bruising or injury could occur.
- Your child should not receive a permanent tattoo or any kind of body piercing.
- Before your child has surgery, including dental surgery, inform the doctor or dentist that your child is taking idarubicin.
After your child stops receiving idarubicin it may still cause side effects. These delayed effects may include certain types of cancer. Check with your child's doctor immediately if you notice any of the following signs even after idarubicin treatment has stopped:
- yellow eyes or skin
- black tarry stools
- blood in urine or stool
- lower back or side pain
- severe stomach pain
- severe diarrhea
- unusual bleeding or bruising
- cough or a hoarse voice
- fast or uneven heartbeat
- swelling in the feet or legs
- trouble breathing or shortness of breath
There is a chance that idarubicin may cause birth defects if it is taken at the time of conception or if it is taken during pregnancy. If your child is sexually active it is best that she use some kind of birth control while receiving idarubicin. Tell the doctor right away if your child may be pregnant.
After receiving idarubicin your child may not be able to have children or have more difficulty having children. Your child's doctor will discuss this in more detail with you and/or your child.
Check with your child's doctor or pharmacist before giving your child any other medicines (prescription, non-prescription, herbal, or natural products).
What other important information should you know about idarubicin?
- Keep a list of all medications your child is on and show the list to the doctor or pharmacist.
- Do not share your child's medicine with others. Do not give anyone else's medicine to your child.
Keep idarubicin out of your child’s sight and reach and locked up in a safe place. If your child takes too much idarubicin, call your local Poison Information Centre at one of these numbers. These calls are free.
- Call 1-844 POISON-X, or 1-844-764-7669, from anywhere in Canada except Quebec.
- Call 1-800-463-5060 if you live in Quebec.