Lung squamous cell carcinoma with severe hypomagnesemia due to cisplatin plus gemcitabine in combination with necitumumab therapy: A case report

• Published in: Thoracic cancer Vol. 12; no. 13; pp. 2039 - 2042
• Main Authors: Nakao, Akira, Inoue, Hiroyuki, Osaki, Yusuke, Hirano, Ryosuke, Harada, Taishi, Aoyama, Takashi, Igata, Fumiyasu, Fujita, Masaki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Melbourne John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd 01.07.2021; John Wiley & Sons, Inc; Wiley
• Subjects: Aged; Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized - administration & dosage; Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized - adverse effects; Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic; Antineoplastic Agents; Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological; Blood; Cancer therapies; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell - drug therapy; Cardiac arrhythmia; Case Report; Case Reports; Chemotherapy; cisplatin; Cisplatin - administration & dosage; Cisplatin - adverse effects; Clinical trials; Deoxycytidine - administration & dosage; Deoxycytidine - adverse effects; Deoxycytidine - analogs & derivatives; Diarrhea; Drug Therapy, Combination; Electrolytes; gemcitabine; Hemoglobin; Humans; hypomagnesemia; Lung cancer; Lung Neoplasms - drug therapy; Magnesium - therapeutic use; Magnesium Deficiency - chemically induced; Magnesium Deficiency - drug therapy; Male; necitumumab; Patients; Squamous cell carcinoma; squamous cell lung cancer; hypomagnesemia; necitumumab; gemcitabine; squamous cell lung cancer; cisplatin
• ISSN: 1759-7706; 1759-7714
• DOI: 10.1111/1759-7714.13999

A 72‐year‐old man, diagnosed with advanced lung squamous cell carcinoma, was administered of cisplatin plus gemcitabine with necitumumab, a human monoclonal antibody that binds to the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), as a sixth‐line treatment. Tumor shrinkage was observed, but asymptomatic grade 4 hypomagnesemia occurred on day 8 of the second cycle. He received magnesium replenishment and hypomagnesemia recovered on day 40, but tumor progression was observed during the period of magnesium correction. Hypomagnesemia is known as a major adverse event of treatment with anti‐EGFR antibodies, but there have been no case reports of severe hypomagnesemia or its clinical course. An unusual case in which we successfully corrected the grade 4 hypomagnesemia as a severe adverse event via intravenous supplementation in the treatment for squamous non‐small cell lung cancer. ​