Tarceva Basics

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Taking Tarceva

Tarceva is a pill you take once a day, every day. It‘s a targeted therapy given in combination with a traditional chemotherapy drug, gemcitabine.

What is Tarceva?

Tarceva (erlotinib) is a prescription pill taken once a day by mouth to treat pancreatic cancer. Tarceva is a prescription pill taken once a day by mouth to treat pancreatic cancer. Tarceva in combination with gemcitabine is prescribed for patients who have not received previous chemotherapy for locally advanced pancreatic cancer, pancreatic cancer that cannot be surgically removed or that has spread to distant body organs. A large clinical study proved that taking Tarceva in combination with gemcitabine may help patients with advanced pancreatic cancer live longer.

Tarceva may help patients live longer.

In a large clinical study, 23.8% of patients taking Tarceva (100mg) plus gemcitabine were living with their pancreatic cancer one year after they started this treatment, compared with 19.4% of patients receiving gemcitabine alone. That's a 22.7% increase in one-year survival for patients on Tarceva plus gemcitabine therapy. How well Tarceva plus gemcitabine therapy works for you may differ from these results.

Tarceva is convenient.

Tarceva is a pill taken once a day, in combination with the gemcitabine regimen specified by your doctor. Tarceva should be taken at the same time each day between meals (at least one hour before or two hours after eating).

Tarceva is easy to administer.

Unlike some other cancer treatments, Tarceva does not require any special handling precautions. (However, like all medicines, Tarceva should be kept out of the reach of children.) This may make it easier for you to give -- and the patient to take -- Tarceva.