Thrombotic microangiopathy with renal failure in two patients undergoing gemcitabine chemotherapy

Described here are 2 patients who developed thrombotic microangiopathy of t he kidneys after receiving high cumulative doses of the new anticancer drug gemcitabine, The fi rst patient, who received gemcitabine for treatment of a carcinoma of the pancreas, required hemodialysis for 6 months. In the se cond case, a woman suffering from a cholangiocellular carcinoma, end-stage renal disease was irreversible. Clinical awareness, timely detection and di scontinuation of gemcitabine are mandatory to prevent this rare but disastr ous complication of gemcitabine therapy. Copyright (C) 1999 S. Karger AG, B asel.