What are the side effects of dabrafenib/dabrafenib?

Dabrafenib is a targeted cancer drug that works by interfering with the growth and spread of cancer cells in the body. Dabrafenib is only used to treat certain cancers with mutations in the BRAF gene. Dabrafenib works by targeting certain proteins produced by the mutated BRAF gene that help cancer cells grow. By blocking these proteins, dabrafenib stops or slows the growth of cancer cells.

Common adverse reactions to dabrafenib as a single agent include hyperkeratosis, headache, pyrexia, arthralgia, papilloma, alopecia, and palmoplantar erythrodysesthesia syndrome. Common adverse reactions of dabrafenib and trametinib include:

1. Unresectable or metastatic melanoma: fever, rash, chills, headache, joint pain and cough.

2. Adjuvant treatment of melanoma: fever, fatigue, nausea, headache, rash, chills, diarrhea, vomiting, joint pain and myalgia.

3. Non-small cell lung cancer: fever, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dry skin, decreased appetite, edema, rash, chills, bleeding, cough and difficulty breathing.

4. Adult patients with solid tumors: fever, fatigue, nausea, rash, chills, headache, bleeding, cough, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, myalgia, joint pain and edema.

5. Children with solid tumors: fever, rash, vomiting, fatigue, dry skin, cough, diarrhea, acneiform dermatitis, headache, abdominal pain, nausea, bleeding, constipation and paronychia.

6. Children with mild glioma: fever, rash, headache, vomiting, musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, diarrhea, dry skin, nausea, bleeding, abdominal pain and acneiform dermatitis.

Warnings and precautions related to dabrafenib include new primary malignancies, tumor promotion of BRAF wild-type tumors, bleeding, cardiomyopathy, uveitis, severe febrile reactions, severe skin toxicity, hyperglycemia, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency (G6PD), and embryo-fetal toxicity.