Successful Retreatment with Crizotinib After Crizotinib-Induced Liver Failure in ALK-Positive Advanced Lung Adenocarcinoma: A Case Report

Abstract

Patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene rearrangements are treated with crizotinib. However, treatment with crizotinib is often discontinued owing to hepatotoxicity. Herein, we report a case of crizotinib-induced liver failure that was successfully treated. A 70-year-old woman complained of a cough with blood in her sputum and presented to our hospital in September 2020. Imaging examination revealed a mass in the middle and lower lobes of the right lung invading the right pulmonary artery and metastases to the right hilar lymph nodes and pleura. A stage IVa (cT4N1M1a) lung adenocarcinoma with ALK fusion was diagnosed. The patient received crizotinib, an ALK tyrosine kinase inhibitor and achieved partial remission. However, she suffered from acute liver failure, which led to the cessation of treatment. The patient was started on a liver protection treatment, and the liver function subsequently recovered. One year later, crizotinib was readministered at a half-dose because of disease progression, and the patient achieved stable disease without hepatotoxicity for 9 months. Therefore, the patient benefited from crizotinib without hepatotoxicity one year after acute liver failure caused by crizotinib.

Keywords:

• crizotinib
• liver failure
• lung adenocarcinoma
• ALK
• retreatment

Ethics Statement and Consent to Participate

This study was approved by the Ethical Committee of Medical Research, Jinxi District, Jinhua Municipal Central Hospital. Written informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this report.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Public Welfare Project of the Social Development of the Jinhua Science and Technology Bureau (2018-4-090).

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.