Amevive Side Effects

Generic Name: alefacept

Please note - some side effects for Amevive may not be reported. Always consult your doctor or healthcare specialist for medical advice. You may also report side effects to the FDA at http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/ or 1-800-FDA-1088 (1-800-332-1088).

Side Effects of Amevive - for the Consumer

Amevive

All medicines may cause side effects, but many people have no, or minor, side effects. Check with your doctor if any of these most COMMON side effects persist or become bothersome when using Amevive:

Dizziness; increased cough; muscle aches or pain; nausea; pain or swelling at the injection site; sore throat or throat inflammation.

Severe allergic reactions (rash; hives; itching; difficulty breathing; tightness in the chest; swelling of the mouth, face, lips, or tongue); chest pain; chills; fever; new or altered skin lesions or spots; painful or frequent urination; persistent sore throat; serious infections; swollen glands; unusual lumps; unusual vaginal discharge ; white patches in the mouth (oral thrush).

Side Effects by Body System

Immunologic

Immunologic side effects including dose-dependent reductions in circulating CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocyte counts have been reported.

Cardiovascular

Cardiovascular side effects including coronary artery disorder (<1%) and myocardial infarction (<1%) have been the adverse reactions which most commonly resulted in clinical intervention.

The total percentage of alefacept-treated patients hospitalized for cardiovascular events was 1.2%.

Oncologic

Oncologic side effects including malignancies have been reported.

Twenty five of the 1,357 patients who received alefacept were diagnosed with a total of 35 treatment-emergent malignancies. Six cases were basal cell and seventeen cases were squamous cell cancers of the skin. Three cases of lymphoma have been reported; one was classified as non-Hodgkin's follicle-center cell lymphoma and two were classified as Hodgkin's disease.

General

Chills have been reported to occur predominantly with intravenous administration.

General side effects including chills (6%), dizziness, headache, and accidental injury have been reported.

Local

Local side effects including injection site pain and injection site inflammation have been reported.

Gastrointestinal

Gastrointestinal side effects including nausea have been reported.

Respiratory

Respiratory side effects including pharyngitis and increased cough have been reported.

Dermatologic

Dermatologic side effects including pruritus have been reported.

Musculoskeletal

Musculoskeletal side effects including myalgia have been reported.

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