Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0030305 (pancreatitis)
 16,014 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A 47-year-old woman with metastatic breast cancer developed acute pancreatitis while receiving capecitabine. She had been receiving capecitabine 2000 mg/m2/day; however, when the dosage was increased to 2500 mg/m2/day (the maximum dosage approved by the Food and Drug Administration) she experienced abdominal pain and cramping. These symptoms were followed by nausea and vomiting, palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia (hand-foot syndrome), and mucositis, resulting in admission to the hospital. Laboratory tests for liver function showed elevated levels of alkaline phosphatase and lactate dehydrogenase. The patient's lipase and amylase levels were also elevated, but an abdominal ultrasound was normal. After bowel rest and intravenous hydration, the patient's liver function tests and lipase and amylase levels returned to normal. Many chemotherapeutic agents have been documented to cause pancreatitis; however, we found no previously described reports of capecitabine-induced pancreatitis. Clinicians should be aware of this potential adverse effect, particularly in patients with preexisting risk factors for pancreatitis who are prescribed capecitabine.
 ...
PMID:Capecitabine-induced pancreatitis. 1292 Dec 54

Capecitabine is an orally administered pro-drug of 5-fluorouracil that confers superior disease-free survival and presumably has a more favourable side-effect profile. Here we report on a patient who developed acute necrotising pancreatitis and very high triglyceride levels as well as hand-foot syndrome after receiving capecitabine for colonic cancer. Increased awareness of this potential side-effect and close monitoring of lipid levels may be warranted, especially in patients who have other conditions predisposing them to severe secondary hyperlipidaemia when using this drug.
 ...
PMID:Hypertriglyceridaemia-induced pancreatitis: a contributory role of capecitabine? 2322 55