[Hemolytic anemia under erlotinib treatment]

Abstract

Erlotinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor widely prescribed of which the most common sides effects are grade I or II rash and diarrhea. We report two cases of hemolytic anemia (HA) induced by erlotinib. Our two patients were treated with erlotinib after a prior line of systemic platinum-doublet therapy for metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. Both patients presented, shortly after starting treatment with erlotinib, an HA which was fatal for one of them. To our knowledge, this major side effect of erlotinib has not been reported in the literature. We will try through this article to make a literature review of the most important side effects of erlotinib and we will also focus on the HA induced by other molecules used in oncology.

Keywords: Anémie hémolytique; Cancer bronchique; Effets secondaires; Erlotinib; Hemolytic anemia; Lung cancer; Side effects.