Daily Business Daily News 59-year-old Ma (pseudonym) is a patient with advanced esophageal cancer. After a medical examination in 2019 was found to be a problem, he took the opportunity to undergo surgery. However, in a review shortly after, the old horse was diagnosed with kidney metastasis and had to undergo another operation.
Later, the old horse chose to receive targeted drug treatment. After several re-examinations, there was no “relapse”, and he was relieved.
However, in March 2021, the old horse accidentally fell while riding, and several small rashes appeared on the skin next to the wound. He didn’t see that the situation was serious, and guessed that it was an allergy, so he went to the pharmacy to buy some ointment and applied it himself.
What Lao Ma never expected was that after applying the medicine, not only did the rash not decrease, but the itching became more and more obvious.
“It’s fine if you don’t scratch it, as soon as you scratch it, it pops up in pieces…” He saw that the skin of his neck, ears, trunk, and limbs was gradually covered with erythema of different sizes. , papules, some of which have been connected into pieces, there are soy-sized blisters on hands, feet, joints, etc., the old horse is miserable, and always scratches “blood dripping”
At the suggestion of his family, Lao Ma went to the Dermatology Department of Hangzhou Third People’s Hospital for treatment. After taking a careful look at the condition, Dr. Cha Weifeng told Lao Ma that these conditions may not be allergies, but side effects caused by immunotherapy.
After a series of related examinations, the old horse was finally diagnosed with toxic epidermal necrolysis. The disease is very rare, but it is critical and, if left unchecked, can be life-threatening. After being admitted to the hospital, the old horse’s condition changed rapidly, with large areas of epidermal necrosis and peeling on his back and legs, and he was even sent to the Dermal Intensive Care Unit (DICU).
During the days in the DICU, the old horse went through several blood perfusions, and finally got out of danger under the daily uninterrupted skin care and multidisciplinary comprehensive treatment of the medical staff, and the “bloody” back gradually gradually disappeared. Tends to be dry, with large swathes of new skin islands. More than a month after seeing the doctor, Lao Chen, who had “shed a layer of skin”, improved and was finally discharged from the hospital.
Acne-like rash is one of the common side effects of targeted drugs. For example, epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor is a kind of specific molecular targeted drug common in clinic, and epidermal growth factor plays a role in promoting epidermal cell growth, inhibiting differentiation, protecting cells from ultraviolet damage, Inhibits inflammation and accelerates wound healing. “After taking this type of targeted drug, although the tumor cells will not grow, but at the same time normal skin cells are also inhibited, other normal functions of the skin are gone, and skin diseases may occur.”
So, does everyone who develops a rash after receiving targeted therapy develop into a situation as serious as an old horse? the answer is negative.
“The skin adverse reactions of targeted anticancer drugs are diverse, and common ones include acne-like rash, paronychia, dry and itchy skin, abnormal hair, hand-foot syndrome, and erythemato-papular rash.” Wu Xingang, deputy director of the Department of Dermatology, explained that many patients began to develop rashes after taking targeted drugs for 10 days. At first, they were red, and then some became puffed up with white tips. When washing their faces, the white tips may break, bleeding, and not itching. , Most of the patients showed extensive drug-induced herpes follicles on the skin and mucous membranes of the body. The rashes are distributed differently due to different targeted drugs, and generally these rashes are not contagious or life-threatening.
In fact, the treatment of adverse reactions of targeted drugs is very different from traditional adverse reactions of drugs. Most of the adverse reactions caused by targeted drugs can be prevented and treated symptomatically in advance. It is understood that on this Saturday, February 26, the newly launched “targeted drug skin adverse reaction joint clinic” officially opened in Hangzhou Third People’s Hospital. Patients with similar problems can get skin, tumor Consultation and comprehensive treatment of two specialists, while solving skin problems, accurately grasp the targeted drug treatment plan.