BREYANZI is a prescription medicine used to treat a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma:
- Large B cell lymphoma, when:
- your first treatment has not worked or your cancer returned within a year of your first treatment, OR...Read more
See links below for full Prescribing Information, including Boxed WARNINGS and Medication Guide.
*The treatment process includes blood collection, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell creation, administration, and side-effect monitoring.
Not actual patients or care partner.
Please see full Prescribing Information, including Boxed WARNINGS and
Medication Guide.
Indications
BREYANZI is a prescription medicine used to treat a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma:
- Large B cell lymphoma, when:
- your first treatment has not worked or your cancer returned within a year of your first treatment, OR
- your first treatment has not worked or your cancer returned after the first treatment, and you are not eligible for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation because of medical conditions or age, OR
- two or more kinds of treatment have not worked or stopped working.
BREYANZI is different than other cancer medicines because it is made from your own white blood cells, which have been genetically modified to recognize and attack your lymphoma cells.
Important Safety Information
What is the most important information I should know about BREYANZI?
BREYANZI may cause side effects that are life-threatening and can lead to death. Call your healthcare provider or get emergency help right away if you get any of the following:
difficulty breathing
fever (100.4°F/38°C or higher)
chills/shaking chills
confusion
severe nausea, vomiting, diarrhea
fast or irregular heartbeat
dizziness/lightheadedness
severe fatigue or weakness
It is important that you tell your healthcare providers that you have received BREYANZI
and to show them your BREYANZI Patient Wallet Card. Your healthcare provider may
give you other medicines to treat your side effects.
Full Prescribing Information, including Boxed WARNINGS and Medication Guide
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Before getting BREYANZI, tell your healthcare provider about all your medical problems, including if you have or have had:
Neurologic problems
(such as seizures, stroke, or memory loss)Lung or breathing problems
Heart problems
Liver problems
Kidney problems
A recent or active infection
Tell your healthcare provider about all the medications you take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements.
How will I receive BREYANZI?
BREYANZI is made from your own white blood cells, so your blood will be collected by a process called leukapheresis.
It takes about 3-4 weeks from the time your cells are received at the manufacturing site and are available to be shipped back to your healthcare provider, but the time may vary.
Before you get BREYANZI, you will get 3 days of chemotherapy to prepare your body.
When your BREYANZI is ready, your healthcare provider will give it to you through a catheter placed into your vein (intravenous infusion). BREYANZI is given as infusions of 2 different cell types.
You will receive infusions of one cell type, immediately followed by the other cell type.
The time for infusion will vary but will usually be less than 15 minutes for each of the 2 cell types.
During the first week after infusion, you will be monitored daily by the facility where you received your treatment.
You should plan to stay within 2 hours of the location where you received your treatment for at least 4 weeks after getting BREYANZI. Your healthcare provider will check to see that your treatment is working and help you with any side effects that may occur.
You may be hospitalized for side effects. Your healthcare provider will discharge you if your side effects are under control, and it is safe for you to leave the hospital.
Your healthcare provider will want to do blood tests to follow your progress. It is important that you do have your blood tested. If you miss an appointment, call your healthcare provider as soon as possible to reschedule.
What should I avoid after receiving BREYANZI?
Do not drive, operate heavy machinery, or do other activities that could be dangerous if you are not mentally alert, for at least 8 weeks after you get BREYANZI. This is because the treatment can cause temporary memory and coordination problems, including sleepiness, confusion, dizziness, and seizures.
Do not donate blood, organs, tissues, or cells for transplantation.
What are the possible or reasonably likely side effects of BREYANZI?
The most common side effects of BREYANZI are:
fatigue
difficulty breathing
fever (100.4°F/38°C or higher)
chills/shaking chills
confusion
difficulty speaking or slurred speech
severe nausea, vomiting, diarrhea
headache
dizziness/lightheadedness
fast or irregular heartbeat
swelling
low blood pressure
muscle pain
BREYANZI can increase the risk of life-threatening infections that may lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you develop fever, chills, or any signs or symptoms of an infection.
BREYANZI can lower one or more types of your blood cells (red blood cells, white blood cells, or platelets). After treatment, your healthcare provider will test your blood to check for this. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get a fever, are feeling tired, or have bruising or bleeding.
BREYANZI may increase your risk of getting cancers including certain types of blood cancers. Your healthcare provider should monitor you for this.
Having BREYANZI in your blood may cause a false-positive HIV test result by some commercial tests.
These are not all the possible side effects of BREYANZI. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. For more information, go to BREYANZI.com or call
1-888-805-4555. You may report side effects to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.
Please see full Prescribing Information, including Boxed WARNINGS and Medication Guide.
Bill’s Breyanzi® story
Bill’s Breyanzi® story
My wife looked over at me and said, ‘Are
you sure you want to do this?’ and I said,
‘Yes.’
—Bill
Grateful for new chances
When Bill reflects on 83 years of life, he’s grateful.
Grateful for the tender, yet tough, love of immigrant parents that formed him. For the basketball scholarship that led him to college and a career. For the woman, Rochelle, who would become his wife and partner of 60 years. And for the chance to play with his great-grandchildren—a chance Bill wasn’t sure he’d have as diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) spread through his body.
No matter where life has taken him, and where it will go, Bill trusts the 2 forces that have always been present: love and laughter.
There’s just an enormous amount of love in our family. We love to laugh. That’s pretty much the central core of our lifestyle.
Watching and waiting
Raised by Irish immigrants in Brooklyn, New York, Bill grew up on the tail end of the Great Depression. Those early years shaped a mental, physical, and spiritual toughness he’d carry with him through life—and later, his battle with cancer.
Bill left New York for Ohio with dreams of playing college basketball, but when an injury halted those dreams, his focus shifted to economics. Economics led to an MBA and the start of his career in finance.
Around that time, Bill met Rochelle, his “gift from God.” Together, they had 3 children, creating a home filled with love, laughter, and happiness.
In retirement, Bill and Rochelle were living life to the fullest—traveling, socializing and staying active. Health and fitness had always been important to Bill. During his annual physical that year, Bill’s doctor noticed an enlarged spleen. After a summer of tests from head to toe, the cause was determined: non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
That’s okay. I can handle whatever happens. I am prepared for whatever the future brings.
For the next 5 years, Bill rode the roller coaster of 6-month follow-ups, his anxiety rising before each appointment and falling when the test results showed no progression. In the meantime, Bill and Rochelle celebrated 50 years together with their first cruise.
Doctors had to remove Bill’s spleen, which weighed 12 pounds. But after that, it was back to 6-month follow-ups for another 5 years.
Another chance at remission
When Bill’s cancer returned with newfound aggression and presented as DLBCL, his oncologist responded with 6 rounds of inpatient chemotherapy, infused over a period of 5 days every 23 days.
During his time in the hospital, Bill earned the nickname “Walkie-talkie.” He’d walk the halls 6 times a day, talking to everyone he met. There was the fireman on his sixth round of chemo and the woman who’d battled leukemia, but was now in the hospital supporting her husband. Their stories inspired Bill.
“I enjoy listening,” Bill says. “I like to talk to people. I like to find out who they are.”
Six rounds of chemo later, Bill and his family learned he was in remission. They were overjoyed.
A birthday to remember
Remission lasted 6 months.
Bill noticed swelling near his groin. His DLBCL had returned, and the prognosis was grim. Fear threatened to overshadow love and laughter, but Bill held tightly to faith. He had learned the importance of positivity during his experience with testicular cancer years before.
“I pray every day to be filled with physical, mental, and spiritual positive energy,” he says. “I told my doctor to smile. We were going to fight this.”
Because he had received 2 prior lines of DLBCL treatments that didn't work or stopped working, including a chemoimmunotherapy regimen after his relapse, Bill’s oncology team asked him to seriously consider a clinical trial for a CAR T cell therapy, now approved as Breyanzi. Bill learned that this treatment would take a sample of his T cells through a process called apheresis (sometimes called leukapheresis) and reprogram them to fight his cancer.
He remembers reading through clinical trial documents outlining the risks of treatment. The potential side effects of Breyanzi that are life-threatening and can lead to death include cytokine release syndrome and neurologic toxicity, while other common side effects include fever, low white or red blood cells, severe diarrhea, or severe nausea. Still, he trusted the opinion of his doctors and wanted to give Breyanzi a try.
See additional Breyanzi Important Safety Information.
My scan showed that I was in remission 45 days after the infusion of the CAR T cells. My birthday was truly a celebration.
His T cells were removed and sent to a manufacturing site for reprogramming, and 1 month later, they were ready for infusion. Bill underwent 3 days of low-dose chemo to help prepare his body for the new CAR T cells. Then, surrounded by family and nurses, he received his CAR T cell infusion.
“I was awake the whole time and talking,” he says. “I was made to feel comfortable. I’m sure I had fear, but it didn’t paralyze me.”
Recovery was tough. In the days following his infusion, Bill experienced neurologic toxicity as well as atrial fibrillation (AFib). He remained in the hospital for 3 weeks before he was discharged to a nearby continuing care facility. There, he spent about a week doing physical therapy and regaining strength, and even after that, it took some time before Bill was able to walk without assistance.
Because of the risk of cytokine release syndrome, neurologic toxicity, and other side effects, patients like Bill must remain at, or close to, where they received treatment for at least 4 weeks after the infusion for side effect monitoring.
Forty-five days after his infusion, Bill’s scan showed he was in remission.
While Bill’s scan showed he was in remission, it does not mean he’s cancer-free. Bill continues to be monitored for possible disease recurrence and long-term side effects from CAR T cell therapy.
“My birthday was truly a celebration,” he says. “Rochelle and I made plans to participate in our annual surf, sand, and sun family vacation at Del Mar Beach.”
There, they spent time with the whole family—including 7 grandchildren and their 8-month-old first great-grandchild. The celebration continued with a cruise from New York to Montreal.
Love and laughter, the 2 main forces in our life, were still here.
Making a difference
Today, Bill is grateful for Breyanzi and the chance to share his experience.
“I feel blessed for my positive attitude, faith, a great medical team, and medical treatments,” he says. “Maybe I can make a difference for somebody as they’re trying to decide their next step.”
When Bill considers what else life may hold, he remains hopeful.
“You can’t have fear,” he says. “That’s where the spiritual, physical, and mental balance comes into play.”
Bill plans to continue traveling the world with Rochelle, growing as an amateur photographer, and spending time with his great-grandchildren. Above all, to continue laughing and loving.
“Quite frankly, I just want to continue to have a happy life and to continue to love life,” he says. “I love life. I love every minute of it.”
Quite frankly, I just want to continue to have a happy life and to continue to love life. I love life. I love every minute of it.
See more stories from others treated with Breyanzi
Karla’s Story
"When Breyanzi was given to me as an option, I was unsure. And now that I've done it, I know I did the right thing for me. I'm the living, breathing proof of it. It worked for me."
View StoryBill’s Story
“My wife looked over at me and said, ‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ and I said, ‘Yes.’”
Read MoreDan’s Story
“When I heard about CAR T cell therapy,
I had a lot of faith
and a lot of hope.”
Nick’s Story
“Acknowledge your fears and talk about them, but stay optimistic. Stay open to the possibilities.”
Read MoreDavid’s Story
“You have to hope that there is a chance. That’s what CAR T cell therapy was for me.”
Read More