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Vol.53 No.6 contents | Japanese/English |
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- Case Report -
Three Cases of Lung Cancer Treated Safely and Effectively with Erlotinib Following Gefitinib-induced Hepatotoxicity
Toshiyuki Sumi1,2, Tetsuya Taya1,2, Kaku Sawada1,3, Hiroki Takahashi21Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Muroran City General Hospital, Japan, 2Department of Respiratory Medicine and Allergology, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Japan, 3Keiwakai Nishioka Hospital, Japan
Background. Gefitinib and erlotinib, tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) that target the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), are anti-cancer agents for unresectable non-small cell lung cancer or recurrent lung cancer. There are a few articles that report successful treatment with erlotinib following gefitinib-induced severe hepatotoxicity. Cases. We herein present three patients with non-small cell lung cancer harboring EGFR mutations. These patients were treated with gefitinib therapy and developed grade 3 or higher hepatotoxicity after several weeks. All of the patients were successfully switched to erlotinib, another EGFR-TKI, without hepatotoxicity. Conclusion. When gefitinib causes severe hepatotoxicity, switching to erlotinib is therefore a possible therapeutic option for lung cancer treatment.
key words: Epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitor, Gefitinib, Erlotinib, Hepatotoxicity, Primary lung adenocarcinoma
Received: August 19, 2013
Accepted: October 4, 2013
JJLC 53 (6): 793-798, 2013
