Join the Oncology
Community
Follow Us:  

Genitourinary

CASE LETTER Severe and rapid cardiac toxicity from sunitinib therapy in a patient with metastatic renal cell carcinoma

By: Michael Furman, MD, AM, Natthapol Songdej, MD, MPH, Maria Constantinou, MD |

01/01/12

Bookmark and Share


Submitting your vote...
Not rated yet. Be the first who rates this item!
Click the rating bar to rate this item.

A 67-year-old man with a history of leftsided renal cell carcinoma (RCC) status after undergoing a radical nephrectomy presented to the oncology clinic after sustaining a pathologic fracture of the left humerus. Computed tomography revealed a right suprarenal mass with invasion into the inferior vena cava (IVC) and right atrium, confirmed to be poorly differentiated RCC on biopsy. Transthoracic echocardiogram (Figure 1) showed tumor thrombus occluding the IVC lumen; the tumor also extended into the right atrium, measuring 8 cm in circumference. Despite this direct invasion, cardiac function remained normal; there was no evidence of valvular or wall motion abnormalities, and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was preserved at 67%. Therapy for metastatic RCC was initiated with the tyrosine kinase inhibitor sunitinib at 50 mg daily. Body mass index (BMI) at this time was 24.8. Within 12 days of starting therapy, however, the patient exhibited symptoms of New York Heart Association class IV heart failure and was referred to the emergency department...

*For a PDF of the full article, click in the link to the left of this introduction.


> more Genitourinary articles




Current Issue


Community Oncology Concentrates on original research, rare cancers, quality of care in community oncology, and practice guidelines.  »


Latest Supplement Highlights of the 6th Annual Community Oncology Conference.  »


For past issues, click here »


calendar
Jun 1 - 5
Chicago, IL
American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO): Annual Meeting
Jun 14 - 17
Amsterdam,
European Hematology Association (EHA): Annual Congress
Jun 18 - 21
Lake Tahoe, NV
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR): Pancreatic Cancer: Progress and Challenges
Jun 20 - 22
Milan,
European Institute of Oncology (IEO): 14th Milan Breast Cancer Conference
Jun 25 - 26
London,
Teenage Cancer Trust (TCT): International Conference
Jun 27 - 30
Barcelona,
European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Conference: World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer
Jun 27 - 30
Boston, MA
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR): Chemical Systems Biology
Jun 28 - 30
New York, NY
Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC)/ International Society of Oral Oncology (ISOO): International Symposium
Jun 28 - 29
Paris,
WIN 2012 Symposium
Jul 7 - 10
Barcelona,
22nd Biennial Congress of the European Association for Cancer Research
More Calendar »