Gemcitabine-associated "pseudocellulitis" and "pseudosepsis": a case report and review of the literature

• Published in: American journal of therapeutics Vol. 20; no. 1; p. 118
• Main Authors: Obeid, Karam M, Venugopal, Anilrudh A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.01.2013
• Subjects: Aged; Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic - adverse effects; Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic - therapeutic use; Cellulitis - diagnosis; Deoxycytidine - adverse effects; Deoxycytidine - analogs & derivatives; Deoxycytidine - therapeutic use; Diagnosis, Differential; Edema - chemically induced; Edema - diagnosis; Female; Fever - chemically induced; Fever - diagnosis; Humans; Pancreatic Neoplasms - drug therapy; Sepsis - diagnosis; Skin Diseases - chemically induced; Skin Diseases - diagnosis; Tachycardia - chemically induced; Tachycardia - diagnosis
• ISSN: 1536-3686
• DOI: 10.1097/MJT.0b013e3182204ffe

Chemotherapeutic agents have been associated with sepsis and a variety of opportunistic and nonopportunistic infections. This was attributed to their immunosuppressive effects. Like all other chemotherapeutic agents, the use of gemcitabine has been associated with different infectious processes, yet many conditions that mimic infections have also been linked to its use. Pseudosepsis is a condition that should be added to these previously described conditions, such as gemcitabine-induced pseudocellulitis. We describe a patient who suffered from 2 different gemcitabine-induced adverse events including pseudocellulitis that was not related to prior lymphedema or radiation recall phenomenon and pseudosepsis wherein antibiotics have no role in the treatment, and the discontinuation of the offending agent resulted in the resolution of the patient's symptoms.