Gemcitabine-induced supraventricular tachycardia

The superior toxicity profile is one of the major reasons for the widespread use of gemcitabine in cancer treatment. Bone marrow suppression is the most common side effect, while non-hematological events are relatively infrequent. Cardiac toxicity is a rare complication and cardiac arrhythmia is eve...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Tumori 2009-07, Vol.95 (4), p.547-549
Main Authors: Tayer-Shifman, Oshrat E, Rottenberg, Yakir, Shuvy, Mony
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Anti-Arrhythmia Agents - therapeutic use
Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic - adverse effects
Breast Neoplasms - drug therapy
Breast Neoplasms - physiopathology
Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast - drug therapy
Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast - physiopathology
Deoxycytidine - adverse effects
Deoxycytidine - analogs & derivatives
Female
Humans
Propranolol - therapeutic use
Tachycardia, Supraventricular - chemically induced
Tachycardia, Supraventricular - drug therapy
Tachycardia, Supraventricular - physiopathology
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Summary:The superior toxicity profile is one of the major reasons for the widespread use of gemcitabine in cancer treatment. Bone marrow suppression is the most common side effect, while non-hematological events are relatively infrequent. Cardiac toxicity is a rare complication and cardiac arrhythmia is even rarer. We report the case of a 67-year-old woman with metastatic breast cancer without a history of cardiac arrhythmia or ischemic heart disease who developed supraventricular tachycardia. The symptoms had started immediately after gemcitabine treatment. The arrhythmia responded poorly to common treatment and was eventually controlled by oral propranolol five days after admission. The present case suggests that supraventricular tachycardia may be triggered by gemcitabine even without underlying significant heart disease and may be resistant to conventional therapy.
ISSN:0300-8916
2038-2529
DOI:10.1177/030089160909500427