Vinorelbine Injection
Vinorelbine Injection is a chemotherapy medicine used to treat locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), given intravenously either alone or with cisplatin.
🧬 Where this information comes from Click to expand
The clinical label records used on this page are FDA-filed Structured Product Labeling (SPL) retrieved through openFDA. We identified 2 clinical label sets within the page’s selected clinical scope after exact ingredient or ingredient-combination matching and applicable route/form matching. Forms, routes, brands, labelers, strengths, and NDC product-record counts are built separately from matching FDA National Drug Code Directory records. The linked DailyMed document is a representative official source for verification, not the page’s only clinical source. View the linked label on DailyMed →
⚠️ FDA Boxed Warning — the FDA’s strongest safety alert ▾
Vinorelbine Injection can severely suppress the bone marrow's ability to make blood cells — a condition called myelosuppression. This can lead to dangerously low white blood cell counts, serious infections, septic shock (a life-threatening response to infection), hospitalization, and death. Your care team will monitor your blood counts regularly and may lower your dose or pause treatment if your counts drop too low. Tell your doctor or nurse immediately if you develop fever, chills, or any signs of infection during treatment.
📖 Vinorelbine Injection: Patient Information Guide
A plain-language walkthrough of Vinorelbine Injection — what it treats, how it works, how it’s taken, side effects, warnings and interactions. Tap any section to expand it.
🎯What it's used for▾
Vinorelbine Injection is a chemotherapy agent approved to treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). All uses are by intravenous infusion in a clinical setting.
- Vinorelbine Injection is indicated in combination with cisplatin for the first-line treatment of locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC
- Vinorelbine Injection is indicated as a single agent for the treatment of metastatic NSCLC
⚙️How it works▾
Vinorelbine is a vinca alkaloid — a type of chemotherapy that targets the internal skeleton cancer cells rely on to divide. Specifically, it blocks the assembly of structures called mitotic microtubules, which are essential for pulling chromosomes apart during cell division. This traps cancer cells at the metaphase stage of division, effectively stopping them from reproducing.
At the doses used clinically, vinorelbine shows a preference for acting on dividing (mitotic) cells rather than nerve-cell microtubules, though nerve-related side effects can still occur at higher concentrations. It may also interfere with other cellular processes including amino acid metabolism, cellular respiration, and nucleic acid production.
💊How it's taken▾
Vinorelbine Injection is given intravenously — always by a healthcare professional in a clinic or hospital setting, never at home. It is administered once a week as a short infusion (over 6 to 10 minutes). The schedule varies depending on whether it is used alone or in combination with cisplatin, and your oncology team will set your specific plan.
- When used alone, Vinorelbine Injection is given once weekly
- When used with cisplatin, the schedule depends on the cisplatin regimen — your care team will explain your specific cycle
- Dose may be reduced or held based on blood count results or liver function before each treatment
Follow your oncologist's instructions exactly — do not adjust the schedule on your own.
🤒Side effects — in detail▾
The most common side effects of Vinorelbine Injection include:
- Neutropenia and leukopenia (low white blood cell counts, raising infection risk)
- Anemia (low red blood cell count, causing fatigue)
- Nausea and vomiting
- Constipation
- Fatigue and weakness (asthenia)
- Injection site pain or reaction
- Peripheral neuropathy (numbness, tingling, or weakness in the hands and feet)
- Elevated liver enzymes (AST)
Serious reactions that need prompt medical attention include high fever or signs of infection (which could indicate dangerously low blood counts), severe constipation or inability to pass stool, worsening nerve symptoms, new or worsening shortness of breath, and redness or swelling at the IV site.
⚠️Warnings & precautions▾
- Myelosuppression (bone marrow suppression): The biggest risk — severely low blood cell counts can lead to life-threatening infection, septic shock, and death. Blood counts must be checked before every dose and the dose adjusted accordingly.
- Severe constipation and bowel obstruction: Vinorelbine can cause bowel paralysis, obstruction, tissue death, and perforation. A preventive bowel routine should be started with treatment.
- Extravasation (IV leakage): If the drug leaks outside the vein, it can cause severe tissue damage and necrosis. The infusion must be stopped immediately if this is suspected.
- Neurologic toxicity: Serious nerve damage (sensory and motor neuropathy) can occur. Treatment is stopped for moderate or severe neuropathy.
- Pulmonary toxicity: Serious lung reactions including interstitial pneumonitis (lung inflammation) and acute respiratory distress can occur. Treatment is paused or permanently stopped if these develop.
- Liver toxicity: Liver function must be monitored; dose reductions are required for elevated bilirubin levels.
- Embryo-fetal toxicity: Vinorelbine can harm an unborn baby. Effective contraception is required during and after treatment.
🔀What it interacts with▾
Vinorelbine is broken down by a liver enzyme called CYP3A. Drugs that block this enzyme can raise vinorelbine levels in the body, increasing the risk and severity of side effects.
- CYP3A4 inhibitors (such as certain antifungal medicines, some antibiotics like clarithromycin, and some HIV medications): Can cause vinorelbine side effects to appear earlier or be more intense — tell your oncologist about every medicine you take before starting treatment
This is not a complete list of interactions. Always talk with your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping, or changing any medication.
📋Before taking it▾
- Pregnancy: Vinorelbine can cause serious harm to a fetus — inform your doctor if you are pregnant or could become pregnant
- Breastfeeding: Do not breastfeed during treatment or for 9 days after the last dose
- Women of childbearing potential: Use effective contraception during treatment and for 6 months after the final dose; pregnancy should be ruled out before starting
- Men with partners who could become pregnant: Use contraception during treatment and for 3 months after the final dose; vinorelbine may damage sperm and may impair male fertility
- Liver impairment: The liver plays a major role in processing vinorelbine — dose reductions are required if bilirubin levels are elevated; use with caution in liver disease
- Children: Safety and effectiveness in pediatric patients have not been established
- Older adults (65+): No significant differences in safety, effectiveness, or drug clearance were seen compared to younger patients in clinical studies
- Other medications: Tell your care team about all prescription, over-the-counter, and herbal products — especially anything that affects liver enzymes
🚑If you take too much▾
There is no known antidote for a vinorelbine overdose. Overdoses have been reported and can cause severe bone marrow failure, paralytic ileus (bowel paralysis), mouth sores, esophagus inflammation, nerve paralysis (paresis), serious infections, and death. If an overdose occurs, treatment is supportive — including blood transfusions, growth factors to stimulate blood cell production, and antibiotics as needed.
📡Pharmacodynamics — effects in the body▾
Vinorelbine works by preventing cancer cells from completing cell division. It blocks the formation of mitotic microtubules — the internal structures cells use to separate chromosomes — trapping cells at metaphase and stopping them from dividing further. At the concentrations used clinically, it shows some selectivity for these dividing-cell microtubules over the microtubules found in nerve fibers, though nerve toxicity can still occur.
🔬Pharmacokinetics — how your body processes it▾
After intravenous infusion, vinorelbine distributes widely throughout the body and binds extensively to blood cells and plasma proteins (roughly 80–91%). It is broken down mainly by the liver using the CYP3A enzyme system, with its primary active breakdown product being deacetylvinorelbine. The drug is eliminated mostly through the feces, with a smaller portion in the urine, and has a long half-life averaging roughly 28 to 44 hours — meaning it stays in the body for a day or more after each dose. Age does not meaningfully affect how the body handles vinorelbine, and concurrent cisplatin does not alter its pharmacokinetics.
📦How to store it▾
Store refrigerated between 2° and 8°C (36° and 46°F). Do not freeze. Protect from light.
📄 Written from Vinorelbine Injection’s FDA-approved label information, summarized in plain language with AI, and reviewed by our pharmacy team before publication. Every point is grounded in that labeling — nothing is invented. How we use AI →
Supplements & herbs that interact with Vinorelbine Injection
138 supplements and herbal products have documented interactions with Vinorelbine Injection in the licensed clinical database we use. Most are manageable — but your pharmacist should know about everything you take, including vitamins and herbals.
- Major · 3
- Moderate · 94
- Minor · 41
Educational information from a licensed clinical database (Natural Medicines) — see our data sources & update cadence. Not medical advice: an interaction being documented does not mean it will happen to you; do not start or stop medications or supplements without professional guidance.
🩺 Pharmacist Counseling Corner
Quick, plain-English answers to the questions patients ask most about Vinorelbine Injection — the kind of thing our pharmacy team would talk through with you at the counter.
What exactly is vinorelbine being used to treat? ▾
How will I receive this medication — do I take it at home? ▾
What side effects should I expect, and which ones mean I should call someone right away? ▾
I've heard about something called 'extravasation' — what is that and should I worry? ▾
Can I take my regular medications while on vinorelbine? ▾
Is vinorelbine safe if I'm pregnant or planning to become pregnant? ▾
Is Vinorelbine Injection available over the counter? ▾
When was Vinorelbine Injection first available? ▾
Who makes Vinorelbine Injection? ▾
💬 Answers drafted from Vinorelbine Injection’s FDA-approved label information, summarized in plain language with AI, and reviewed by our pharmacy team before publication. Grounded in that labeling — nothing is made up. How we use AI →
🧰 Keep exploring
💊 How Vinorelbine Injection comes
Vinorelbine Injection is available in 1 form. Different forms and brands can have different approved uses, doses, schedules, and directions. Follow the instructions for your exact product, and do not switch forms without guidance from your prescriber or pharmacist.
Injection
How this form is used
- Vinorelbine Injection is used in combination with cisplatin as first-line treatment for locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
- Vinorelbine Injection is used as a single agent for the treatment of metastatic NSCLC
- Vinorelbine Injection is given intravenously — it must only be administered through a vein by a trained healthcare professional
- Vinorelbine Injection is infused over 6 to 10 minutes, typically once a week, into the side port of a free-flowing IV line, followed by a flush
- Vinorelbine Injection must be diluted before use and visually checked for particles — it should not be given if particles are visible
- If Vinorelbine Injection leaks outside the vein (extravasation), administration must be stopped immediately and the care team must manage the site according to clinical protocol
📊 Vinorelbine Injection across the U.S. market
How Vinorelbine Injection appears in the FDA’s National Drug Code Directory — including its dosage forms, strengths, brand names, manufacturers, and FDA-listed product records. These are directory records, not sales or prescription volume.
Share of FDA-listed product records by manufacturer — FDA National Drug Code Directory. Record counts are not sales or prescription volume.
📈 How widely Vinorelbine Injection is used
A general measure of how commonly Vinorelbine Injection is prescribed, based on Medicaid — one of the largest public drug programs. The figure below is prescriptions filled in Q1–Q4 2025, summed across every form and brand of the drug.
Think of this as a proxy for how widely Vinorelbine Injection is used, drawn from freely available public data. Medicaid is just one program — these numbers don’t include Medicare, other government coverage, or commercial and cash-pay prescriptions, so real-world use is higher than what’s shown here.
How commonly is Vinorelbine Injection prescribed? Of the 1,596 medications we measure, Vinorelbine Injection ranks #1,386 by Medicaid prescriptions — more than 13% of them.
Utilization by Vinorelbine Injection product
Pick a product to see its own Medicaid numbers. Each chip is one clinical product — a specific strength & dosage form as defined by RxNorm — with brand-name and generic versions combined.
5 ML vinorelbine 10 MG/ML Injection Most dispensed
Summed across the 2 of 4 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 1729422
1 ML vinorelbine 10 MG/ML Injection
Summed across the 2 of 3 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 1729418
Shares are of the Medicaid prescriptions shown here. Product grouping follows RxNorm (the National Library of Medicine’s drug terminology), so “one product” means one strength & dosage form regardless of manufacturer. Dollar figures are gross Medicaid reimbursement before mandatory rebates — rebates (often large, especially for brand-name drugs) are confidential, so actual net cost to Medicaid is lower than shown.
Source: Medicaid State Drug Utilization Data (CMS), aggregated by generic ingredient — summed across every NDC (all brands, strengths, salt forms and dosage forms) of Vinorelbine Injection, and across all states and both fee-for-service and managed-care claims. A general popularity signal; it excludes Medicare, commercial insurance and cash prescriptions, so it is not total U.S. use. Based on the 4 of 7 listed Vinorelbine Injection NDCs with Medicaid activity.
🔍 Compare Vinorelbine Injection products
A representative set of FDA-listed product records for Vinorelbine Injection — across manufacturers, strengths, and dosage forms, grouped by form with each product’s manufacturer and how the FDA approved it. The same medicine may be made and packaged by different companies, so a single drug can have many directory entries. (It’s also why a refill can look different — a new shape, color, or box — even though it contains the same medication.)
| Strength | Route | Manufacturer / Labeler | Category ⓘ | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 💊Injection | ||||
| 10 mg/mL | Intravenous | Actavis Pharma, Inc. × 2 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 10 mg/mL | Intravenous | Sagent Pharmaceuticals × 2 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
Showing 4 of 4 products — FDA National Drug Code Directory. See every product, package size and price: browse all 4 Vinorelbine Injection NDCs →
📈 What people report — real-world data (FDA FAERS)
After a medicine reaches the market, patients, doctors and drugmakers can send the FDA reports of problems they think may be linked to it. Here’s what’s been reported for Vinorelbine Injection — a signal of what to watch for, not proof the drug caused it.
Source: openFDA, from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). These are voluntary reports — they don’t prove the drug caused the effect, and counts reflect how often something was reported, not how often it actually happens. Reports also often name the very problem the medicine is taken for — a common reason to file one is that the drug didn’t help — so for a pain reliever you may see “pain” high on the list; that points to why the report was filed, not to the drug causing the symptom. This counts every report that lists Vinorelbine Injection in any role, so the total runs higher than the FDA’s official dashboard, which counts only cases where the drug is the suspect. For the authoritative figures, see the FDA FAERS Public Dashboard. Always talk to your pharmacist or doctor.
🏛️ The road to your pharmacy
How Vinorelbine Injection went from FDA review to the pharmacy shelf — the key milestones in its regulatory journey.
Source: Drugs@FDA.
🚨 Recall history
A recall is when a specific batch of a medicine is pulled from the market — usually a manufacturing issue, not a problem with the drug itself. Class I is most serious, Class III least.
Source: openFDA drug enforcement (recall) reports.
RxNorm Concept Web — From Ingredient to Every Form and Strength
This page starts with one ingredient concept (IN). The branches below show its dose-form concepts (SCDF), then the available clinical drug and strength concepts (SCD). Combination products remain separate concepts with their own pages.
RxCUI 39541 1 dose form · 2 strengths
-
Dose form (SCDF) Injection RxCUI 1729404In current FDA listingsClinical drug / strength (SCD) 1 ML vinorelbine 10 MG/MLRxCUI 17294185 ML vinorelbine 10 MG/MLRxCUI 1729422
Look up RxCUI 39541 in the RxCUI Atlas →
RxNorm is the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s normalized drug vocabulary. Its concept hierarchy can include forms that are not currently marketed; the status on each branch compares that concept with current FDA listings. RxCUIs identify vocabulary concepts, not individual packages or manufacturers.
📦 Supply & shortage status
Whether Vinorelbine Injection is in short supply in the U.S. right now, plus any shortage history the FDA has on record. A shortage usually reflects a manufacturing or demand issue — not a safety problem with the drug.
Source: openFDA, from the FDA Drug Shortages database.
🏷️ Sold under these brand names
🏭 Manufacturers & labelers
RxNorm drug class
Vinorelbine Injection belongs to the Vinca Alkaloid class.
Classified by RxNorm RxClass — the U.S. National Library of Medicine's standardized drug-classification service (Established Pharmacologic Class from the FDA, the ATC drug family from the WHO, and mechanism of action). Reference only, not medical advice.
🔬 Where this comes from
Core label, product, RxNorm, safety, and utilization data on this page come from the sources identified below. AI-written, editorial, and licensed sections are labeled separately.
How we combine label and product data
HelloPharmacist combines public FDA and NLM records; we don’t author the underlying clinical facts. We identified 2 FDA-filed SPL label sets within the page’s selected clinical scope after exact ingredient or ingredient-combination matching and applicable route/form matching. The representative label is the starting point for the displayed reference monograph; the 12 largest stored in-scope SPL records, which may include that representative, are compared section by section, and the longest available version of each section is retained. Forms, routes, brands, labelers, product-listed strengths, and product-record counts are aggregated separately from ingredient-matched FDA NDC Directory records; package records listed above are associated with the linked SPL; and the normalized concept hierarchy comes from NLM RxNorm.
Where a section is identified as AI-written, its plain-language text is generated from bounded label evidence. New draft drug pages remain in the admin review queue before first publication. Sagent Pharmaceuticals is the representative DailyMed label linked for verification and dates; it is not the sole source used for the page.
This is general education, not medical advice — always consult your doctor or pharmacist about your medications and any medical condition. For the exact wording of the linked representative label, view that label on DailyMed; some displayed composite sections may come from other in-scope SPL labels. Learn how we use AI and our data sources & update cadence.