Paclitaxel-associated subungual pyogenic granuloma: report in a patient with breast cancer receiving paclitaxel and review of drug-induced pyogenic granulomas adjacent to and beneath the nail

Abstract

Subungual and periungual pyogenic granuloma occur in association with certain systemic medications. Paclitaxel is an antitumor drug of the taxane family used in the management of breast cancer. Taxanes have many associated nail changes that may occur in patients receiving either docetaxel or paclitaxel for systemic chemotherapy. The nail changes in a 68-year-old woman with metastatic breast cancer who presented for nail changes after receiving 12 cycles of weekly paclitaxel are described herein: nail plate red-brown discoloration, onycholysis with leukonychia, proximal subungual hemorrhage, and subungual pyogenic granuloma. The literature on systemic medications associated with the development of subungual and periungual pyogenic granulomas is reviewed; drugs associated with the development of pyogenic granuloma at the locations include antineoplastics, antiretrovirals, epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors, immunosuppressants and retinoids. In conclusion, subungual pyogenic granuloma can occur not only in patients receiving docetaxel, but also in patients treated with paclitaxel. And, paclitaxel should be included in the list of drugs associated with the occurrence of subungual pyogenic granuloma.