The importance of establishing wild-type RAS (exons 2, 3, 4 of KRAS and exons 2, 3, 4 of NRAS) status before treatment with Erbitux® 5mg/ml solution for infusion (cetuximab)

Merck Pte Ltd would like to inform healthcare professionals of the planned modification to the approved therapeutic indication in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) and updates to the safety information of Erbitux^® in Singapore following a change to the EU Summary of Product Characteristics in December 2013. The revised indication for the use of Erbitux^® involves a change in the intended patient population to include wild type RAS patients, to mitigate the risk of a negative impact on patients with RAS mutations beyond KRAS exon 2. In addition, healthcare professionals are advised to take into consideration the possibility of infusion-related reactions and to monitor patients closely, especially during the first administration. Please refer to the letter for more details. 

Only abstracts of the Dear Healthcare Professional Letters (DHCPL) are provided on this website. Details of these letters can be found in the MOH Alert System, which is accessible via the Health Professionals Portal (HPP), a one-stop portal for all healthcare professionals in Singapore. Dentists, medical doctors and pharmacists may access HPP at https://hpp.moh.gov.sg and follow the procedures below to access the MOH Alert system.

Step 1: Select your profession under ‘For Healthcare Professionals’.

Step 2: Click on ‘Useful links’.

Step 3: Click on ‘MOH Alert’ and log in via Singpass.

Step 4: Click on ‘Drug Alerts’ or ‘Med Device Alerts’ to view the DHCPLs.