A serious side effect of Yescarta is called cytokine release syndrome, which causes fever, chills, trouble breathing, vomiting, and other symptoms. Your caregivers will have medication available to quickly treat this condition if it occurs.
Yescarta can also cause life-threatening nerve problems. Tell your caregivers or seek emergency medical attention if you have problems with speech, problems with thinking or memory, confusion, or a seizure.
Before taking this medicine
To make sure Yescarta is safe for you, tell your doctor if you have ever had:
an active or chronic infection;
memory problems;
a seizure;
liver or kidney disease;
a stroke; or
if you have received a vaccine in the past 2 weeks.
Women may need pregnancy testing before receiving this medicine. You may also need to use birth control to prevent pregnancy during and shortly after treatment with Yescarta and chemotherapy.
If you receive Yescarta during pregnancy, your baby's blood may need to be tested after it is born. This is to evaluate any effects the medicine may have had on the baby.
It may not be safe to breastfeed while using this medicine. Ask your doctor about any risk.
How is Yescarta given?
Yescarta is available only at an authorized hospital or clinic, and must be given by specially trained healthcare professionals.
Yescarta is given after a procedure called leukapheresis (LOO-kuh-fuh-REE-sis).
During leukapheresis, some of your blood is collected through a small tube (catheter) placed into a vein. The catheter is connected to a machine that separates your white blood cells from other parts of the blood.
The cells are then sent to a laboratory where they are made into Yescarta. Because it will take time to process your blood cells into axicabtagene ciloleucel, you will not receive the medicine on the same day your blood cells are drawn.
About 3 to 5 days before Yescarta is given, you will be pre-treated with chemotherapy to help prepare your body for administration of this medicine.
Just before you receive this medicine, you will be given other medications to help prevent serious side effects or allergic reaction.
Once your body is ready to receive Yescarta, your care providers will inject the medicine into a vein through an IV.
You will be watched closely for at least 7 days after you receive Yescarta, to make sure you do not have an allergic reaction or serious side effects.
You will need frequent blood tests to be sure this medicine has not caused harmful effects.
For at least 4 weeks, plan to stay near the hospital or clinic where you received Yescarta. Avoid being so far away that it takes you longer than 2 hours to travel back to the hospital.
