Cometriq
Cometriq Side Effects Center
Reviewed by Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD
Cometriq (cabozantinib) capsules are a prescription medicine used to treat people with medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) that has spread to other parts of the body. Cometriq belongs to a class of drugs called kinase inhibitors. Cometriq can cause serious side effects that may lead to death. Some side effects can include severe bleeding (hemorrhage), coughing up blood or blood clots, vomiting blood, red or black tarry stools, and/or menstrual bleeding that is heavier than normal. Other common side effects with Cometriq include weight loss, decreased appetite, diarrhea, and fatigue.
The recommended dose of Cometriq is 140 mg taken orally, once daily. Cometriq should not be taken with food, and patients should not eat for at least two hours before or one hour after taking Cometriq. Cometriq may interact with other drugs. Patients should inform their healthcare providers of all prescription or nonprescription medication or herbal products that they are taking. When taking Cometriq, patients should avoid medications such as ketoconazole (Nizoral, Kuric, Xolegel), itraconazole (Sporanox), clarithromycin (Biaxin, Biaxin XL), atazanavir (Reyataz), indinavir (Crixivan), nefazodone (Serzone), nelfinavir (Viracept), ritonavir (Kaletra, Norvir), saquinavir (Invirase), telithromycin (Ketek), and/or voriconazole (Vfend). Cometriq can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. Patients of childbearing potential must use effective contraception during therapy and for at least four months following their last dose of Cometriq. Breastfeeding mothers must discontinue nursing while receiving Cometriq therapy.
Our Cometriq (cabozantinib) Side Effects Drug Center provides a comprehensive view of available drug information on the potential side effects when taking this medication.
This is not a complete list of side effects and others may occur. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.
What is Prescribing information?
The FDA package insert formatted in easy-to-find categories for health professionals and clinicians.
Cometriq FDA Prescribing Information: Side Effects
(Adverse Reactions)
SIDE EFFECTS
The following serious adverse reactions are discussed elsewhere in the label:
- Perforations and Fistula [see BOXED WARNING, WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS]
- Hemorrhage [see BOXED WARNING, WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS]
- Thromboembolic Events [see WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS]
- Wound Complications [see WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS]
- Hypertension [see WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS]
- Osteonecrosis of the Jaw [see WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS]
- Palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia syndrome [see WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS]
- Proteinuria [see WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS]
- Reversible Posterior Leukoencephalopathy Syndrome [see WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS]
Clinical Trial Experience
Because clinical trials are conducted under widely varying conditions, adverse reaction rates observed in the clinical trials of a drug cannot be directly compared to rates in the clinical trials of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in practice.
The safety of COMETRIQ was evaluated in 330 patients with progressive metastatic medullary thyroid cancer randomized to receive 140 mg COMETRIQ (n = 214) or placebo (n = 109) administered daily until disease progression or intolerable toxicity in a randomized, doubleblind, controlled trial. [See Clinical Studies] The data described below reflect a median exposure to COMETRIQ for 204 days. The population exposed to COMETRIQ was 70% male, 90% white, and had a median age of 55 years.
Adverse reactions which occurred in ≥ 25% of COMETRIQ-treated patients occurring more frequently in the COMETRIQ arm with a between-arm difference of ≥ 5% included, in order of decreasing frequency: diarrhea, stomatitis, palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia syndrome (PPES), decreased weight, decreased appetite, nausea, fatigue, oral pain, hair color changes, dysgeusia, hypertension, abdominal pain, and constipation. The most common laboratory abnormalities ( > 25%) were increased AST, increased ALT, lymphopenia, increased ALP, hypocalcemia, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, hypophosphatemia, and hyperbilirubinemia. Grade 3-4 adverse reactions and laboratory abnormalities which occurred in ≥ 5% of COMETRIQ-treated patients occurring more frequently in the COMETRIQ arm with a between-arm difference of ≥ 2% included, in order of decreasing frequency; diarrhea, PPES, lymphopenia, hypocalcemia, fatigue, hypertension, asthenia, increased ALT, decreased weight, stomatitis, and decreased appetite (see Table 1, Table 2).
Fatal adverse reactions occurred in 6% of patients receiving COMETRIQ and resulted from hemorrhage, pneumonia, septicemia, fistulas, cardiac arrest, respiratory failure, and unspecified death. Fatal adverse reactions occurred in 5% of patients receiving placebo and resulted from septicemia, pneumonia, and general deterioration.
The dose was reduced in 79% of patients receiving COMETRIQ compared to 9% of patients receiving placebo. The median number of dosing delays was one in patients receiving COMETRIQ compared to none in patients receiving placebo. Adverse reactions led to study treatment discontinuation in 16% of patients receiving COMETRIQ and in 8% of patients receiving placebo. The most frequent adverse reactions leading to permanent discontinuation in patients treated with COMETRIQ were: hypocalcemia, increased lipase, PPES, diarrhea, fatigue, hypertension, nausea, pancreatitis, tracheal fistula formation and vomiting.
Increased levels of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) were observed in 57% of patients receiving COMETRIQ after the first dose compared to 19% of patients receiving placebo (regardless of baseline value). Ninety-two percent (92%) of patients on the COMETRIQ arm had a prior thyroidectomy, and 89% were taking thyroid hormone replacement prior to the first dose.
Table 1 : Per-Patient Incidence of Selected Adverse
Reactions in Protocol XL184-301 Occurring at a Higher Incidence in
COMETRIQ-Treated Patients [Between Arm Difference of ≥ 5% (All Grades)1or
≥ 2% (Grades 3-4)]
| MedDRA System Organ Class/ Preferred Terms | Cabozantinib (n=214) |
Placebo (n=109) |
||
| All Grades | Grades 3-4 | All Grades | Grades 3-4 | |
| GASTROINTESTINAL DISORDERS | ||||
| Diarrhea | 63 | 16 | 33 | 2 |
| Stomatitis2 | 51 | 5 | 6 | 0 |
| Nausea | 43 | 1 | 21 | 0 |
| Oral pain3 | 36 | 2 | 6 | 0 |
| Constipation | 27 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Abdominal pain4 | 27 | 3 | 13 | 1 |
| Vomiting | 24 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Dysphagia | 13 | 4 | 6 | 1 |
| Dyspepsia | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hemorrhoids | 9 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| GENERAL DISORDERS AND ADMINISTRATION SITE CONDITIONS | ||||
| Fatigue | 41 | 9 | 28 | 3 |
| Asthenia | 21 | 6 | 15 | 1 |
| INVESTIGATIONS | ||||
| Decreased weight | 48 | 5 | 10 | 0 |
| METABOLISM AND NUTRITION DISORDERS | ||||
| Decreased appetite | 46 | 5 | 16 | 1 |
| Dehydration | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| MUSCULOSKELETAL AND CONNECTIVE TISSUE DISORDERS | ||||
| Arthralgia | 14 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| Muscle spasms | 12 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Musculoskeletal chest pain | 9 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| NERVOUS SYSTEM DISORDERS | ||||
| Dysgeusia | 34 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Headache | 18 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Dizziness | 14 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Paresthesia | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Peripheral sensory neuropathy | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peripheral neuropathy | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS | ||||
| Anxiety | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| RESPIRATORY, THORACIC AND MEDIASTINAL DISORDERS | ||||
| Dysphonia | 20 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| SKIN AND SUBCUTANEOUS TISSUE DISORDERS | ||||
| PPES5 | 50 | 13 | 2 | 0 |
| Hair color changes/ depigmentation, graying | 34 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Rash | 19 | 1 | 10 | 0 |
| Dry skin | 19 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Alopecia | 16 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Erythema | 11 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Hyperkeratosis | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| VASCULAR DISORDERS | ||||
| Hypertension | 33 | 8 | 4 | 0 |
| Hypotension | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 National Cancer Institute Common Terminology
Criteria for Adverse Events Version 3.0 2 Includes the following terms: stomatitis, aphthous stomatitis, mouth ulceration, mucosal inflammation 3 Includes the following terms: oral pain, oropharyngeal pain, glossitis, burning mouth syndrome, glossodynia 4 Includes the following terms: abdominal pain, abdominal pain lower, abdominal pain upper, abdominal rigidity, abdominal tenderness, esophageal pain 5 Palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia syndrome |
||||
Table 2: Percent-Patient Incidence of Laboratory
Abnormalities Occurring at a Higher Incidence in COMETRIQ-Treated Patients in
Protocol XL184-301 [Between Arm Difference of ≥ 5% (All Grades) or ≥ 2%
(Grades 3-4)]
| Adverse Event | COMETRIQ (n=214) |
Placebo (n=109) |
||
| All Grades | Grade 3-4 | All Grades | Grade 3-4 | |
| Chemistries | ||||
| Increased AST | 86 | 3 | 35 | 2 |
| Increased ALT | 86 | 6 | 41 | 2 |
| Increased ALP | 52 | 3 | 35 | 3 |
| Hypocalcemia | 52 | 12 | 27 | 3 |
| Hypophosphatemia | 28 | 3 | 10 | 1 |
| Hyperbilirubinemia | 25 | 2 | 14 | 5 |
| Hypomagnesemia | 19 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| Hypokalemia | 18 | 4 | 9 | 3 |
| Hyponatremia | 10 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| Hematologic | ||||
| Lymphopenia | 53 | 16 | 51 | 11 |
| Neutropenia | 35 | 3 | 15 | 2 |
| Thrombocytopenia | 35 | 0 | 4 | 3 |
| ALT, alanine aminotransferase; ALP, alkaline phosphatase; AST, aspartate Aminotransferase | ||||
Nearly all COMETRIQ-treated patients (96% vs. 84% placebo) experienced elevated blood pressure and there was a doubling in the incidence of overt hypertension in COMETRIQ-treated patients over placebo-treated patients (61% vs. 30%) according to modified Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC) staging criteria. No patients developed malignant hypertension.
Table 3: Per-Patient Incidence of Hypertensio n in
Protocol XL184-301
| Hypertension, JNC1 Stage | COMETRIQ N = 2113(%) |
Placebo N = 1073 (%) |
| Normal: Grade 0: Systolic < 120 mmHg and Diastolic < 80 mmHg | 4 | 15 |
| Pre-hypertension: Systolic ≥ 120 mmHg or Diastolic ≥ 80 mmHg | 34 | 54 |
| Stage 1: Systolic ≥ 140 mmHg or Diastolic ≥ 90 mmHg | 46 | 25 |
| Stage 2: Systolic ≥ 160 mmHg or Diastolic ≥ 100 mmHg | 15 | 5 |
| Malignant: Diastolic ≥ 120 mmHg | 0 | 0 |
| 1Joint National Committee on Prevention,
Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure, JAMA 2003:
289:2560. Criteria applied were modified, as multiple readings were not
available per timepoint, and therefore not averaged. 2Subjects classified by highest category based on all recorded blood pressure readings beginning after the first dose through 30 days after last dose. 3Subjects with at least two blood pressure measurements after the first dose |
||
Read the entire FDA prescribing information for Cometriq (Cabozantinib Capsules) »
Additional Cometriq Information
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