Open AccessLeukocyte Count Restoration Under Dabrafenib Treatment in a Melanoma Patient With Vemurafenib-Induced Leukopenia
Author(s) -
Elias Orouji,
Birgit Ziegler,
Viktor Umansky,
Christoffer Gebhardt,
Jochen Utikal
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.59
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1536-5964
pISSN - 0025-7974
DOI - 10.1097/md.0000000000000161
Subject(s) - vemurafenib , medicine , dabrafenib , trametinib , melanoma , leukopenia , metastatic melanoma , oncology , cancer research , immunology , mapk/erk pathway , chemotherapy , kinase , biology , microbiology and biotechnology
Recent advances in melanoma therapy have influenced the management of metastatic patients. Inhibitors of the BRAF/MEK/ERK signaling cascade have been proven highly effective in the metastatic disease although displaying different side effects. Here, we report a patient with BRAF V600E-mutated stage IV melanoma who developed a severe leukopenia upon targeted therapy with the BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib. Interestingly, the immediate therapeutic switch to a different BRAF inhibitor ‘dabrafenib́ had no negative influence on the leukocyte count. This case supports recent studies, which showed a differential influence of different BRAF inhibitors on patients’ leukocytes despite similar clinical efficacy in melanoma.