Introduction: Pazopanib, an oral multi-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor, is associated with improved outcomes in patients with unresectable or metastatic soft tissue sarcoma. Pazopanib may cause cardiotoxicity such as heart failure. Case report: A 50-year-old female patient with no cardiovascular risk factors other than the previous treatment with adriamycin had a baseline left ventricular ejection fraction of 60%. She was receiving pazopanib 800 mg once daily for advanced leiomyosarcoma of the presacral area. On the 60th day of treatment, she presented with fatigue, palpitation, and exertional dyspnea for several days. Echocardiography was performed, and left ventricular ejection fraction was measured as 25%. Pazopanib-induced heart failure was considered and all other possible preliminary diagnoses were excluded. Management and outcome: Pazopanib was stopped immediately. Bisoprolol fumarate 5 mg orally once daily, spironolactone 100 mg orally once daily, furosemide 40 mg orally once daily, and ramipril 2.5 mg orally once daily were started. The patient’s symptoms partially improved. Second echocardiography was performed after 15 days, and left ventricular ejection fraction was measured as 35%. But, despite pazopanib was not resumed and cardiac support treatment was administered, she died four weeks after discontinuation of pazopanib due to heart failure. Discussion: Pazopanib-induced heart failure may be fatal. Physicians and patients should be aware of the cardiotoxicity risk when managing the use of pazopanib in soft tissue sarcoma.
4 February 2021 in Journal of the Egyptian National Cancer Institute
Background: Vaginal metastasis should be kept in mind when evaluating the staging tests of all cancers, especially endometrial cancer. Case presentation: We present four patients with vaginal recurrence who recently applied to our clinic. Three cases were of endometrial cancer and one case of rectal cancer. All patients presented with vaginal bleeding. Conclusion: Standard treatment for vaginal metastasis has not yet been established. Therapeutic options for vaginal metastasis—separately or in combination—are surgical resection, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy.
8 April 2019 in Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology
Introduction: Soft tissue sarcomas are a heterogeneous and rare group of cancers with a short median overall survival despite the chemotherapy. Pazopanib has approval for the treatment of advanced soft tissue sarcoma. We aimed to investigate the clinical outcomes of Turkish patients with advanced soft tissue sarcoma who received pazopanib. Patients and methods: This was a retrospective study. The inclusion criteria were: ≥18 years of age, having histologically proven advanced soft tissue sarcoma and receiving pazopanib at least one day. Results: A total of 79 patients were assessed in this study. The median age was 49.6 years. The average dose intensity of pazopanib was 767 mg (400–800). The median duration of pazopanib treatment was 6.11 months. Fourteen patients (17.7%) used pazopanib at first line for advanced soft tissue sarcomas. The most common cause of discontinuation of pazopanib was the progression of the disease (89.6%). Pazopanib was well tolerated. The most common grade ≥3 side effect was anemia. The most common grade ≤2 side effects were anemia and hyperbilirubinemia. The median progression-free survival, overall survival, and follow-up were 3.97 months, 11.40 months, and 32.72 months, respectively. Female gender, good performance status, and the presence of pazopanib-induced hypothyroidism were associated with longer progression-free survival. Also, good performance status and being a responder to first-line treatment were associated with longer overall survival. Conclusions: We showed that pazopanib was well tolerated and had clinical benefit in patients with advanced soft tissue sarcoma in a Turkish cohort. This is the first study that suggests pazopanib-induced hypothyroidism may act as a predictive marker for better outcomes in patients with advanced soft tissue sarcoma.
22 September 2023 in Journal of Gastrointestinal Cancer