Japanese Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vol 28, Issue 11 709-711, Copyright © 1998 by Foundation for Promotion of Cancer Research
T Miya, R Fujikawa, J Fukushima, H Nogami, Y Koshiishi and T Goya
Irinotecan chloride (CPT-11) is a new semi-synthetic camptothecin analogue
which has encouraging antitumor activity against various malignancies. The
major and unique toxicity of CPT-11 is diarrhea. Cardiovascular toxicity is
rare and has not been found in clinical trials performed in Japan except
for a very few cases of insignificant tachycardiac arrhythmia. We report a
case of a 69-year-old man with recurrent colon cancer who suffered from
bradycardia induced by infusion of CPT-11. Other toxicities including
hematological toxicity and diarrhea were mild. Pharmacokinetic analysis
using a limited sampling model revealed that the occurrence of bradycardia
did not correlate with the excess of drug exposure. Although all of the
cholinergic actions reported in the literature were mild, cardiotoxicity
may come to be a clinically significant problem. If the events were
examined more thoroughly, the cholinergic effect may be discovered more
frequently. To administer CPT-11 safely needs meticulous monitoring not
only for hematological toxicity and diarrhea but also for other cholinergic
actions including bradycardia.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Bradycardia induced by irinotecan: a case report
Department of Surgery II, Kyorin University School of Medicine, Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan. toshimichi@mtg.biglobe.ne.jp
![]()
CiteULike
Connotea
Del.icio.us What's this?