What safety measures should you take when your child is using dacarbazine?
Your child will receive medicine to prevent upset stomach and throwing up caused by dacarbazine.
While your child is having treatment with dacarbazine, they will be more sensitive to the sun. The skin will burn more easily than normal. To prevent sunburn, your child should wear sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15 and protective clothing when outdoors. Your child should also avoid direct sunlight between the hours of 10 am - 3 pm and avoid sunlamps and tanning beds.
Your child may lose their hair. This side effect is rare with dacarbazine. It will grow back once your child is no longer receiving dacarbazine. Its colour and texture may change. Use a gentle shampoo and a soft brush.
Dacarbazine can lower the number of white blood cells in the blood temporarily, which increases your child's chances of getting an infection. Your child can take the following precautions to prevent infections, especially when the blood count is low:
- Avoid people with infections, such as a cold or the flu.
- Avoid places that are very crowded with large groups of people.
- Be careful when brushing or flossing your child's teeth. Your doctor, nurse, or dentist may suggest different ways to clean your child's mouth and teeth.
- You/your child should not touch your child's eyes or inside their nose without washing your/your child's hands first.
- Your child's nurse will review with you what to do in case of fever.
Your child should not receive any immunizations (vaccines) without your child's doctor's approval. Your child or anyone else in your household should not get oral polio vaccine while they are being treated for cancer. Tell your child's doctor if anyone in your household has recently received oral polio vaccine. Your child should avoid contact with anyone who has recently received this vaccine.
Dacarbazine can lower the number of platelets in the blood, which increases your child's risk of bleeding. You can take the following precautions:
- Be careful not to cut your child when using a razor, fingernail scissors, or toenail clippers.
- Your child should avoid contact sports where bruising or injury could occur.
- Before your child has surgery, including dental surgery, inform the doctor or dentist that your child is taking dacarbazine.
- Your child should not receive a permanent tattoo or any kind of body piercing.
After your child stops receiving dacarbazine it may still cause side effects. These delayed effects may include certain types of cancer. Check with your doctor immediately if any of the following signs occur even after dacarbazine treatment has stopped:
- yellow eyes or skin
- black tarry stools
- blood in urine or stool
- lower back or side pain
- stomach pain
- cough or a hoarse voice
- unusual bleeding or bruising
- diarrhea
There is a chance that dacarbazine may cause birth defects if it is taken at the time of conception or if it is taken during pregnancy. If your child is sexually active it is best that they use some kind of birth control while receiving dacarbazine. Tell the doctor right away if your child may be pregnant.
Other medications may interact with dacarbazine. Check with your child's doctor or pharmacist before giving your child any other medicines (prescription, non-prescription, herbal, or natural products).
