Rapid occurrence of left ventricular thrombus associated with platinum-based chemotherapy plus cetuximab for the treatment of metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck: A case report

• Published in: Molecular and clinical oncology Vol. 7; no. 5; pp. 833 - 836
• Main Authors: Ikeda, Atsushi, Yamachika, Eiki, Mizutani, Masahide, Matsubara, Masakazu, Moritani, Norifumi, Nakatsuji, Kazuki, Iida, Seiji
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England D.A. Spandidos 01.11.2017
• Subjects: left ventricular thrombus; cetuximab; head and neck; squamous cell carcinoma
• ISSN: 2049-9450; 2049-9469
• DOI: 10.3892/mco.2017.1393

Platinum-based chemotherapy plus cetuximab represents the first-line treatment for recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. The most common adverse events associated with cetuximab are infusion reactions and skin reactions, and a risk of venous thromboembolic events has also recently been reported in association with cetuximab. It is well known that thrombosis is a common complication of malignancy, and represents the second most frequent cause of mortality in cancer patients. The present study reports the case of a 79-year-old man who presented with lung and liver metastases from tongue squamous cell carcinoma, for which platinum-based chemotherapy plus cetuximab was administered. After 1 cycle, the patient showed rapid growth of a left ventricular (LV) thrombus, despite ongoing antiplatelet therapy for an old myocardial infarction. Anticoagulant therapy was administered to treat the LV thrombus, which resolved within 1 week. To the best of our knowledge, this represents the first reported case of rapidly occurring LV thrombus associated with platinum-based chemotherapy plus cetuximab. Platinum-based chemotherapy plus cetuximab may be associated with a higher risk of embolic thrombus.