Xeloda tablets – your best guide

Table of Contents

Uses of xeloda tablets –

Capecitabine is used for the treatment of breast, bowel, or rectal cancer. It functions by slowing or halting cancer cell development.

How to use xeloda tablets.

Read the Patient Knowledge Leaflet, if available from your pharmacist, before you start taking capecitabine and any time you refill. Ask the doctor or pharmacist if you have any questions.

Taking xeloda tablets by mouth as instructed by your doctor, normally 2 times a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. Swallow the tablets whole with a full glass of water (8 ounces/240 milliliters) within 30 minutes of the meal. Do not smash or divide the tablets. If you’re having trouble swallowing tablets whole, ask a health care provider for advice. Your doctor may order you to take xeloda tablets in the course of your care. Follow the doctor’s orders closely.

The dose is dependent on your medical condition, body size, and reaction to the medication. Do not raise your dosage or take this medication more frequently or longer than necessary. Your health will not change sooner, and your chance of side effects will increase.

Because this medicine can be ingested by the skin and lungs and may damage an unborn child, pregnant women or may become pregnant should not take this medicine or breathe the dust from the tablets.

Precautions, you must know.

Before beginning therapy with capecitabine, be sure to tell the doctor of all other drugs you are taking (including prescription, over-the-counter, supplements, herbal remedies, etc.). Do not take aspirin, aspirin-containing drugs unless expressly prescribed by the doctor.
Stop taking antacids after 2 hours of taking capecitabine.
When you are using warfarin (Coumadin ®) as a blood thinner, you may need to change the dosage depending on blood work.
Capecitabine will not be prescribed if you have experienced a hypersensitivity (allergic) reaction to fluorouracil.
Do not undergo some form of immunization or vaccine without your doctor’s permission when taking capecitabine.
Inform the health care provider whether you are pregnant or could be pregnant before beginning this procedure. Pregnancy type D (capecitabine can be dangerous to the fetus. Women who are pregnant or become pregnant should be aware of possible danger to the fetus).
For both men and women, do not conceive a fetus (get pregnant) when taking capecitabine. Barrier strategies for contraception, such as condoms, are recommended. Speak to the doctor whether you are healthy to get pregnant or conceive of a baby after medication.

Xeloda tablets – How does it work?

Xeloda tablets – Cancer tumors are distinguished by cell division, which is no longer regulated in normal tissue. “Normal” cells avoid dividing as they come into contact with related cells, a process known as contact inhibition. Cancer cells are lacking this capacity.

Cancer cells no longer have the usual checks and balances to monitor and limit the division of cells. The mechanism of cell differentiation, whether regular or cancer cells, is through the cell cycle. The cell cycle goes from the resting phase, through the active growth phase, to the mitosis (division).

Xeloda tablets – The effectiveness of chemotherapy to destroy cancer cells relies on its ability to suppress cell division. Typically, drugs operate by destroying the RNA or DNA that informs the cell how to copy itself through division. If the cells can not differentiate, they will die. The further the cells divide, the more likely it is that chemotherapy will kill the cells, allowing the tumor to shrink. They also cause cell suicide (self-death or apoptosis).

Note: We highly advise you to discuss your particular medical diagnosis and recovery with your health care provider. The material on this web page is useful and insightful but is not a substitution for medical advice.

Xeloda, how successful is it?

Xeloda tablets also increased total survival: 89.2% of the women infected with Xeloda remained alive. 83.9 percent of the women who did not undergo chemotherapy were alive.