PACLITAXEL - SEVERE MUCOCUTANEOUS TOXICITY IN A PATIENT WITH HYPERBILIRUBINEMIA

Paclitaxel is a novel anticancer drug that is being increasingly used to treat cancer of the breast and other organs. We describe a patient with metastatic breast cancer and liver dysfunction who had severe muc ocutaneous toxicity after administration of a standard dose of paclita xel. Another interesting finding in this patient was that the administ ration of paclitaxel led to a prompt resolution of parathyroid hormone -related protein (PTHrP)-mediated hypercalcemia, which had previously proven to be refractory to multiple conventional antihypercalcemic age nts as well as anthracycline-containing chemotherapy combination. The need for definitive guidelines for paclitaxel administration in the se tting of hepatic dysfunction and the potentially unique sensitivity of PTHrP-producing cells to paclitaxel are discussed.