Chemotherapy-induced Sweet's syndrome in a patient with recurrent laryngeal carcinoma

• Published in: BMJ case reports Vol. 15; no. 6; p. e250412
• Main Authors: Abdelnabi, Mahmoud, Morataya, Cristina, Cavazos, Annia, Tarbox, Michelle
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BMJ Publishing Group LTD 20.06.2022; BMJ Publishing Group
• Subjects: Antineoplastic Agents - adverse effects; Biopsy; Cancer therapies; Carcinoma - pathology; Case reports; Chemotherapy; Chronic Disease; Drug dosages; Drug withdrawal; Humans; Images In; Infections; Internal medicine; Laryngeal cancer; Laryngeal Neoplasms - drug therapy; Laryngeal Neoplasms - pathology; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local - drug therapy; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local - pathology; Neutrophils - pathology; Skin diseases; Squamous cell carcinoma; Steroids; Sweet Syndrome - chemically induced; Sweet Syndrome - diagnosis; Sweet Syndrome - drug therapy; Dermatology; Oncology; Drugs and medicines
• ISSN: 1757-790X; 1757-790X
• DOI: 10.1136/bcr-2022-250412

Correspondence to Dr Mahmoud Abdelnabi; mahmoud.hassan.abdelnabi@outlook.com Description A man in his 60s, who used to smoke at least one pack a day for more than 50 years, with a previous history of intravenous drug use, multiple tattoos and a medical history of hypertension, hypothyroidism, chronic latent hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection (no previous treatment was received), recurrent laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) status post total laryngectomy and neck irradiation. Drug-induced Sweet’s syndrome is a hypertensive reaction characterised by abrupt onset of painful erythematous nodules, papules and plaques or pustular dermatosis usually affecting the face, neck and upper extremities, histopathological evidence of dense neutrophilic dermal infiltrates without evident leucocytoclastic vasculitis, a temporal relation between drug ingestion and clinical presentation and resolution of symptoms after drug withdrawal or treatment with systemic corticosteroids. Rarely, in cases of corticosteroids failure, other alternative therapies such as dapsone, potassium iodide, colchicine, indomethacin, clofazimine, α-interferon, naproxen and ciclosporin can be used.1 We present a case of drug-induced Sweet’s syndrome in a man with a known solid tumour diagnosis.