Vidaza Injection: Uses, Dosage, Side Effects, Precautions and Alternates

Quick overview

Vidaza Injection (azacitidine) is an antineoplastic, nucleoside metabolic inhibitor given by injection to treat certain bone marrow disorders and blood cancers. It is administered by a healthcare provider in a hospital or clinic, usually under the skin or into a vein. It works by helping the bone marrow make healthy blood cells while destroying abnormal ones. Treatment requires regular blood test monitoring and carries important precautions, including effects on fertility, pregnancy, and the risk of serious blood, kidney, and liver effects.

What is Vidaza Injection

Vidaza is a chemotherapy medicine given as an injection to treat certain bone marrow disorders and blood cancers. It is given to you by a healthcare provider in a hospital or clinic, usually under the skin or into a vein.

Vidaza Injection uses

• Treats certain myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), a group of conditions where the bone marrow does not make enough healthy blood cells
• Treats a rare type of leukemia, including juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML)
• Used for specific bone marrow subtypes including refractory anemia, refractory anemia with ringed sideroblasts, refractory anemia with excess blasts, refractory anemia with excess blasts in transformation, and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia
• May be used for other conditions as determined by your health care provider

Benefits of Vidaza Injection

• Helps the bone marrow make healthy blood cells
• Helps destroy abnormal blood cells
• Acts as a standard treatment to slow disease progression and improve survival in higher-risk patients

How Vidaza Injection works

Azacitidine is a chemotherapy drug that may work by helping your bone marrow make healthy blood cells and by destroying blood cells that are not normal.

Vidaza Injection dosage

This medicine is given to you by a healthcare provider in a hospital or clinic as an injection under the skin or as an infusion into a vein. It is usually given once a day for 7 days in a row, repeated every 4 weeks, for at least 4 to 6 treatment cycles. You may also be given medicine to help prevent nausea and vomiting before each treatment.

If you miss a treatment appointment, call your doctor or clinic right away to reschedule. If any of the medicine accidentally gets on your skin, wash it thoroughly with soap and warm water. It is important to keep all appointments for blood tests so your provider can check how your body is responding and make sure the medicine is safe for you.

Use exactly as prescribed by your doctor or pharmacist.

Available forms and strengths

• Injection (given under the skin or into a vein)
• Lyophilized powder in single-dose injection vials
• Powder for suspension

Side effects of Vidaza Injection

Common

• Nausea and vomiting
• Diarrhea or constipation
• Fever and chills
• Tiredness and weakness
• Redness, pain, or bruising at the injection site
• Low blood cell counts (easy bruising or bleeding)
• Rash
• Joint pain or pain in arms or legs
• Low potassium levels
• Stomach pain and upset stomach
• Infection in the nose or throat, sore throat, or cold-like symptoms
• Dizziness

Serious

• Severe allergic reactions, including trouble breathing, swelling of face, lips, or throat, hives, or racing heart
• Blood disorders such as low red blood cells, low platelets, and low white blood cells leading to fever, bruising, bleeding, or infections
• Kidney damage, including reduced urination, swelling in feet or legs, confusion, or trouble breathing
• Liver problems, including upper stomach pain, itching, dark urine, or yellowing of skin or eyes
• Tumor lysis syndrome (fast breakdown of cancer cells), with symptoms like nausea, vomiting, muscle cramps, swelling, or seizures
• Lung infection with fever, cough, or chest pain

Warnings and precautions

• This medicine can severely lower white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets, increasing the risk of serious bleeding and infection.
• This medicine can cause tumor lysis syndrome, a fast breakdown of cancer cells that can be serious. Drinking plenty of water and attending blood test appointments can help your provider monitor for this.
• Do not use this medicine if you are allergic to azacitidine or mannitol, or if you have advanced liver cancer.
• This medicine may cause infertility in both men and women.
• This medicine can harm an unborn baby. Women should have a pregnancy test before starting treatment and should not be pregnant while using it. 
• Women should use effective birth control during treatment and for 6 months after the last dose, and men should use effective birth control for 3 months after their last dose.
• It is not known if this medicine passes into breast milk. You should not breastfeed while using it and for one week after your last dose.
• Tell your doctor if you have kidney disease, since this medicine should be used with caution and may build up more in the body if kidneys are not working well. Elderly patients are more likely to have kidney problems.
• Tell your doctor if you have liver disease or have ever had liver tumors. You should not receive this medicine if you have advanced liver cancer, and it should be used with caution if you have severe liver disease.
• It is not known if alcohol affects this medicine, but heavy drinking can weaken your immune system and make it harder for your body to fight cancer.
• Kidney function should be monitored; dose interruption or adjustment may be required if renal toxicity develops.

Storage

• Azacitidine is usually given by a health care provider in a hospital or clinic. You will not store it at home.
• Store Vidaza injection at 25º C (77º F); excursions are permitted to 15º-30º C (59º-86º F).

When to see a doctor

• Get emergency help right away if you have signs of a serious allergic reaction, such as hives, trouble breathing, or swelling of the face, lips, tongue, or throat.
• Call your doctor right away if you have signs of low blood cell counts, such as fever, chills, tiredness, mouth sores, easy bruising, unusual bleeding, pale skin, or feeling light-headed or short of breath.
• Call your doctor right away if you notice signs of kidney problems, such as lower back pain, blood in urine, little or no urination, or swelling in your feet or ankles.
• Call your doctor right away if you have signs of liver problems, such as upper stomach pain, itching, dark urine, or yellowing of the skin or eyes.
• Call your doctor right away if you have signs of tumor cell breakdown, such as tiredness, weakness, muscle cramps, nausea, vomiting, or an abnormal heart rate.
• If you think you have used too much of this medicine, get emergency medical help right away or contact a poison control center.

Alternatives

• Lenalidomide
• Venetoclax-based regimens
• Oral decitabine/cedazuridine
• Decitabine