Product details & mandatory information
Active ingredients and excipients
Active ingredients
- 2.74 mg methotrexate disodium
Excipients
- Magnesium stearate
- Maize starch, pregelatinised
- Lactose-1-water
More product information
What are methotrexate tablets and what are they used for?
Methotrexate belongs to the group of medicines called antimeta-bolites, which influence cell growth and thus also the growth of cancer cells. It is used in cancer treatment and inhibits the action of dihydrofolate reductase. This enzyme plays an important role in cell growth. By inhibiting it, cancer cells can die.
Methotrexate tablets are used to treat the following types of cancer:
- Acute lymphatic leukaemia (ALL, a blood cancer in which the white blood cells grow uncontrollably).
- Malignant trophoblastic tumours (a tumour development directly associated with pregnancy)
How should Methotrexate Tablets be taken?
Always take this medicine exactly as your doctor or pharmacist has told you. Ask your doctor or pharmacist if you are not sure.
Dosage
Daily use of methotrexate (unless specifically prescribed, especially for use in tumour therapy) or higher doses than prescribed can cause serious complications, often leading to hospitalisation and sometimes death.
Treatment with Methotrexate Tablets should be initiated by or in consultation with a doctor experienced in cancer treatment.
It is possible that you will only receive methotrexate. In the case of cancer, however, there is also the possibility of a so-called combination therapy, in the course of which several medicines are applied.
The dose of methotrexate depends on the type of disease, your body weight/body surface area, age, general state of health, your response to the medicine and whether other medicines are being used at the same time. The total duration of treatment and intervals between treatments will be determined by your doctor.
It is important that you take Methotrexate Tablets exactly as prescribed by your doctor.
Elderly patients
Methotrexate must be used with special caution in elderly patients. Dose reduction should be considered. Elderly patients should be monitored particularly closely during treatment with methotrexate in order to detect methotrexate toxicity at an early stage.
Patients with renal disease
Patients with kidney disease may require a lower dose.
Children and adolescents
The use of methotrexate in children and adolescents should be done with special caution and according to the appropriate treatment protocols.
Route of administration
Oral use.
Take the tablets unchewed with plenty of water, preferably in the evening and preferably not with meals.
If you are pregnant or want to become pregnant, you may only take Methotrexate Tablets on the express instructions of your doctor.
Your doctor will decide on the duration of use.
Please talk to your doctor or pharmacist if you have the impression that the
Methotrexate is too strong or too weak.
If you have taken more Methotrexate Tablets than you are supposed to.
Follow the dosage instructions given by your doctor. Do not change the dose on your own.
If you have taken Methotrexate in a larger amount than you should, tell your doctor immediately or go to the emergency department of the nearest hospital. The medical staff will decide what treatment is necessary depending on the severity of the poisoning.
An overdose of methotrexate can cause severe poisoning reactions including death. Symptoms of an overdose may include: easy development of bruising or bleeding, unusual feeling of weakness, open mouth, nausea, vomiting, black or bloody stools, bloody cough or vomit that looks like coffee grounds, and decreased urine output (see section 4 ‘What side effects may I have?’).
Take your medicine pack with you when you go to the doctor or hospital. The antidote for an overdose is calcium folinate.
If you stop taking Methotrexate Tablets
You should not interrupt or stop treatment with Methotrexate without consulting your doctor. If you suspect a serious side effect, you should consult your doctor immediately.
If you have any further questions about taking this medicine, ask your doctor or pharmacist.
Contents of the pack and other information What Methotrexate Tablets contain
The active substance is methotrexate (as methotrexate disodium).
Methotrexate Tablets 2.5mg
1 tablet contains 2.74 mg of methotrexate disodium, corresponding to 2.5 mg of methotrexate.