Temsirolimus
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Handling and access
NIOSH hazardous drug
Table 1NIOSH lists temsirolimus as a hazardous drug. AHFS class: 10:00 antineoplastic agents.
- The package insert includes manufacturer's special handling information (MSHI). Follow it when preparing, administering, and disposing of this drug.
Handle with the precautions your facility uses for hazardous drugs (USP <800>). NIOSH's Managing Hazardous Drug Exposures lists controls by drug form and activity.
Dosing in kidney impairment
Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma The recommended dose of TORISEL for advanced renal cell carcinoma is 25 mg administered as an intravenous infusion over a 30 – 60 minute period once a week. Treatment should continue until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity occurs.
Dosing in liver impairment
Dose Modification Guidelines Hepatic Impairment : Use caution when treating patients with hepatic impairment. If TORISEL must be given in patients with mild hepatic impairment (bilirubin >1 – 1.5×ULN or AST >ULN but bilirubin ≤ULN), reduce the dose of TORISEL to 15 mg/week. TORISEL is contraindicated in patients with bilirubin >1.5×ULN [see Contraindications , Warnings and Precautions and Use in Specific Populations ] .
Concomitant Strong CYP3A4 Inhibitors : The concomitant use of strong CYP3A4 inhibitors should be avoided (e.g. ketoconazole, itraconazole, clarithromycin, atazanavir, indinavir, nefazodone, nelfinavir, ritonavir, saquinavir, telithromycin, and voriconazole). Grapefruit juice may also increase plasma concentrations of sirolimus (a major metabolite of temsirolimus) and should be avoided.
If patients must be co-administered a strong CYP3A4 inhibitor, based on pharmacokinetic studies, a TORISEL dose reduction to 12.5 mg/week should be considered. This dose of TORISEL is predicted to adjust the AUC to the range observed without inhibitors. However, there are no clinical data with this dose adjustment in patients receiving strong CYP3A4 inhibitors.
If the strong inhibitor is discontinued, a washout period of approximately 1 week should be allowed before the TORISEL dose is adjusted back to the dose used prior to initiation of the strong CYP3A4 inhibitor [see Warnings and Precautions and Drug Interactions ] . Concomitant Strong CYP3A4 Inducers : The use of concomitant strong CYP3A4 inducers should be avoided (e.g. dexamethasone, phenytoin, carbamazepine, rifampin, rifabutin, rifampacin, phenobarbital).
If patients must be co-administered a strong CYP3A4 inducer, based on pharmacokinetic studies, a TORISEL dose increase from 25 mg/week up to 50 mg/week should be considered. This dose of TORISEL is predicted to adjust the AUC to the range observed without inducers. However, there are no clinical data with this dose adjustment in patients receiving strong CYP3A4 inducers.
If the strong inducer is discontinued the temsirolimus dose should be returned to the dose used prior to initiation of the strong CYP3A4 inducer [see Warnings and Precautions and Drug Interactions ] .
Preparation and administration
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Your numbers for temsirolimus. Take vial strength, diluent, and limits from the label below.
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Instructions for Preparation TORISEL is a cytotoxic drug. Follow applicable special handling and disposal procedures 1 . TORISEL must be stored under refrigeration at 2°–8°C (36°–46°F) and protected from light. During handling and preparation of admixtures, TORISEL should be protected from excessive room light and sunlight.
Parenteral drug products should be inspected visually for particulate matter and discoloration prior to administration, whenever solution and container permit. In order to minimize the patient exposure to the plasticizer DEHP (di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate), which may be leached from PVC infusion bags or sets, the final TORISEL dilution for infusion should be stored in bottles (glass, polypropylene) or plastic bags (polypropylene, polyolefin) and administered through polyethylene-lined administration sets.
TORISEL 25 mg/mL injection must be diluted with the supplied diluent before further dilution in 0.9% Sodium Chloride Injection, USP. Please note that both the TORISEL injection and diluent vials contain an overfill to ensure the recommended volume can be withdrawn. Follow this two-step dilution process in an aseptic manner.
Step 1: DILUTION OF TORISEL INJECTION 25 MG/ML WITH SUPPLIED DILUENT
Each Vial of TORISEL (temsirolimus) must first be mixed with 1.8 mL of the enclosed diluent. The resultant solution contains 30 mg/3 mL (10 mg/mL).
Mix well by inversion of the vial. Allow sufficient time for the air bubbles to subside. The solution should be clear to slightly turbid, colorless to light-yellow solution, essentially free from visual particulates. The concentrate-diluent mixture is stable below 25ºC for up to 24 hours. Step 2: DILUTION OF CONCENTRATE-DILUENT MIXTURE WITH 0.9% SODIUM CHLORIDE INJECTION, USP
Withdraw precisely the required amount of concentrate-diluent mixture containing temsirolimus 10 mg/mL as prepared in Step 1 from the vial (i.e., 2.5 mL for a temsirolimus dose of 25 mg) and further dilute into an infusion bag containing 250 mL of 0.9% Sodium Chloride Injection, USP.
Mix by inversion of the bag or bottle, avoiding excessive shaking, as this may cause foaming. The resulting solution should be inspected visually for particulate matter and discoloration prior to administration. The admixture of TORISEL in 0.9% Sodium Chloride Injection, USP should be protected from excessive room light and sunlight.
Administration
Administration of the final diluted solution should be completed within six hours from the time that TORISEL is first added to 0.9% Solution Chloride Injection, USP.
TORISEL is administered as an intravenous infusion over a 30- to 60-minute period once weekly. The use of an infusion pump is the preferred method of administration to ensure accurate delivery of the product.
Appropriate administration materials should be composed of glass, polyolefin, or polyethylene to avoid excessive loss of product and diethylhexylpthalate (DEHP) extraction. The administration materials should consist of non-DEHP, non-polyvinylchloride (PVC) tubing with appropriate filter. In the case when a PVC administration set has to be used, it should not contain DEHP.
An in-line polyethersulfone filter with a pore size of not greater than 5 microns is recommended for administration to avoid the possibility of particles bigger than 5 microns being infused. If the administration set available does not have an in-line filter incorporated, a polyethersulfone filter should be added at the set (i.e., an end-filter) before the admixture reaches the vein of the patient.
Different end-filters can be used, ranging in filter pore size from 0.2 microns up to 5 microns. The use of both an in-line and end-filter is not recommended.
TORISEL, when diluted, contains polysorbate 80, which is known to increase the rate of DEHP extraction from PVC. This should be considered during the preparation and administration of TORISEL, including storage time elapsed when in direct contact with PVC following constitution. Compatibilities and Incompatibilities Undiluted TORISEL injection should not be added directly to aqueous infusion solutions.
Direct addition of TORISEL injection to aqueous solutions will result in precipitation of drug. Always combine TORISEL injection with DILUENT for TORISEL before adding to infusion solutions. It is recommended that TORISEL be administered in 0.9% Sodium Chloride Injection after combining with diluent. The stability of TORISEL in other infusion solutions has not been evaluated.
Addition of other drugs or nutritional agents to admixtures of TORISEL in 0.9% Sodium Chloride Injection has not been evaluated and should be avoided. Temsirolimus is degraded by both acids and bases, and thus combinations of temsirolimus with agents capable of modifying solution pH should be avoided.
Drug interactions
Check temsirolimus against a medication listLabel text (5 paragraphs)
Strong inducers of CYP3A4/5 and inhibitors of CYP3A4 may affect concentrations of the primary metabolite of TORISEL. If alternatives cannot be used, dose modifications of TORISEL are recommended. ( 7.1 , 7.2 , 7.3 )
7.1 Agents Inducing CYP3A Metabolism Co-administration of TORISEL with rifampin, a potent CYP3A4/5 inducer, had no significant effect on temsirolimus C max (maximum concentration) and AUC (area under the concentration versus the time curve) after intravenous administration, but decreased sirolimus C max by 65% and AUC by 56% compared to TORISEL treatment alone. If alternative treatment cannot be administered, a dose adjustment should be considered [see Dosage and Administration (2.4) ] .
7.2 Agents Inhibiting CYP3A Metabolism Co-administration of TORISEL with ketoconazole, a potent CYP3A4 inhibitor, had no significant effect on temsirolimus C max or AUC; however, sirolimus AUC increased 3.1-fold, and C max increased 2.2-fold compared to TORISEL alone. If alternative treatment cannot be administered, a dose adjustment should be considered [see Dosage and Administration (2.4) ] .
7.3 Angioedema with ACE inhibitors and Calcium Channel Blockers Angioedema has been reported in patients taking mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors in combination with ramipril and/or amlodipine. Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of angioedema when temsirolimus is given concomitantly with angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors (e.g., ramipril) or calcium channel blockers (CCB) (e.g., amlodipine). Drug Interactions Effect of Temsirolimus on CYP2D6 or CYP3A The concentration of desipramine, a CYP2D6 substrate, was unaffected when 25 mg of temsirolimus was co-administered.
No clinically significant effect is anticipated when 25 mg of temsirolimus is co-administered with agents that are metabolized by CYP2D6 or CYP3A.
Contraindications
4 CONTRAINDICATIONS TORISEL is contraindicated in patients with bilirubin >1.5×ULN [see Warnings and Precautions (5.2) ] . TORISEL is contraindicated in patients with bilirubin > 1.5×ULN. ( 4 )
Safety data
Reported adverse events (FAERS)
Liver injury (LiverTox)
E*Likelihood score E*: Unproven but suspected rare cause of clinically apparent liver injury.
Temsirolimus is an inhibitor of cell proliferation and anticancer agent that is used as treatment of advanced renal cell cancer. Temsirolimus therapy is frequently associated with mild serum enzyme elevations, but has yet to be linked to instances of clinically apparent liver injury with jaundice.
ABCDEA: well known cause; E: unlikely cause. [HD]: high doses only.
Pregnancy and lactation
Pregnancy
8.1 Pregnancy Risk Summary Based on findings in animal studies and its mechanism of action, temsirolimus can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman [see Clinical Pharmacology (12.1) ] . Although there are no data on the use of TORISEL in pregnant women, there are limited data on the use of sirolimus, the active metabolite of temsirolimus, during pregnancy; however, these data are insufficient to inform a drug-associated risk of adverse developmental outcomes.
In animal reproductive studies, oral daily administration of temsirolimus to pregnant rats and rabbits during organogenesis caused adverse embryo-fetal effects at approximately 0.04 and 0.12 times the AUC in patients at the recommended dose, respectively (see Data ) . Advise pregnant women of the potential hazard to a fetus. The estimated background risk of major birth defects and miscarriage for the indicated population is unknown. All pregnancies have a background risk of birth defect, loss or other adverse outcomes. In the U.S. general population, the estimated background risk of major birth defects and miscarriage in clinically recognized pregnancies is 2–4% and 15–20%, respectively.
Data Animal Data Temsirolimus administered daily as an oral formulation throughout organogenesis caused adverse embryo-fetal effects in rats and rabbits at human sub-therapeutic exposures. Embryo-fetal adverse effects in rats consisted of reduced fetal weight and reduced ossifications, and in rabbits included reduced fetal weight, omphalocele, bifurcated sternabrae, notched ribs, and incomplete ossifications. In rats, the adverse embryo-fetal effects were observed at the oral dose of 2.7 mg/m 2 /day (approximately 0.04-fold the AUC in patients with cancer at the human recommended dose).
In rabbits, the adverse embryo-fetal effects were observed at the oral dose of ≥7.2 mg/m 2 /day (approximately 0.12-fold the AUC in patients with cancer at the recommended human dose).
Breastfeeding (LactMed)
Temsirolimus is a prodrug of sirolimus. Because no information is available on the use of temsirolimus or sirolimus during breastfeeding, an alternate drug may be preferred, especially while nursing a newborn or preterm infant. The manufacturer recommends that breastfeeding be discontinued during temsirolimus therapy and for 3 weeks following the last dose.
Supply and cost
Drug shortage status
Recalls (last 24 months)
Therapeutic equivalence (Orange Book)
Price ladder
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